Light in the Shadows
by Ziriuel
Summary: Naomi, a young mutant has finally had enough of the punishments and the black rooms brought on by her father because of her powers. She comes to Xavier's School with the help of her uncle and now she's going to learn how to control these powers that have caused her so much pain. Fifty Chapters!
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, for those of you who haven't read anything of mine before this is basically what I do. Each chapter averages about one thousand words, I don't have someone to read them over before I submit them so I usually beg for you not to mind grammatical errors in advance.**

**I update whenever I can manage to do so, so if you're looking for a consistent updater you've come to the wrong person. However, if you are looking for interesting story and plotline twists, I'm your girl. Regardless of the story I love to keep people guessing at what I'm going to do next, so read on and leave me a review, if you love it, or if you don't.**

**I've tried to write a few different "X-Men" fics before this one, I'm kind of enjoying where this one is going in my head and on paper so I thought I'd give it a whirl. So, it won't be like my other story (Which I'm working on too, don't worry I won't forget "Hunted by Death" fighting scenes kick my trash) but still my style so enjoy.**

**I own the original characters, Marvel has claim on the x-men though.**

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

Her life had been perpetual darkness. She'd been kept in the small room with black painted windows since she was a child, darkness kept the gift, or curse as her father had come to think of it, hidden and weaker.

She had enough.

Her parents went out almost every night now, ever since she'd gotten to the age they could leave her at home alone, not that they trusted her but that it wouldn't be considered abandonment to leave her there alone. She wandered out of the room and looked around the rest of the house that had become nothing more than a prison. Pulling her hands into fists she went back to the room and began pulling on as many of the short sleeve shirts as she could as well as an extra two pairs of pants, it was uncomfortable but it would be warmer than in the clothes she had. She dug into a pair of jean pant pockets and pulled out a business card.

Her uncle had been there only days ago, he made this trip every few montys to try and convince her family to let her go with him to a special school, one where there were other people like her went.

"What do you mean 'like her?'" She'd heard her mother say through the door, "There isn't anything wrong with my daughter, she's just ill. Naomi doesn't need to be subjected to freaks like you!"

Naomi had peered out the door at her Uncle Hank, he was covered in blue fur and looked nothing like his brother. He'd caught sight of her and given her his number in case she wanted to talk. Her dad had then led him to the door and he was gone. She wanted to go, sixteen, she was sick of the small room, the painted windows and the looks of almost horror when her parents looked at her.

She grabbed her dad's old trench coat and a snow cap before leave the house. She walked for a while until she came to a pay phone and dialed.

"This is Hank McCoy, who's this?" He asked over the staticy line.

She licked her lips, "Could you come get me?"

The line went quite for a moment, "Naomi? What's wrong, are your parents alright, where are they, this isn't your families number."

She pulled the hood of the coat down over her head as far as it would manage as a car drove past. "I left. I don't want to be there anymore... Can you come get me?"

"Do you know where you are?" He asked, in the background of the line she could hear the jingling of keys and the opening of a door.

She shook her head and bit her lip, "No, I walked a few blocks down to the nearest pay phone." Her voice trembled slightly, "But I don't want to go back, I can live with them!"

"Naomi, it's alright, just hold on one minute."

"Please deposit twenty-five cents more to continue this call." The computer sounding voice stated, Naomi immediately produced the asked chance and dropped it into the machine.

"Are you still there?" Her uncle asked.

"Yeah, will you come get me?" She asked again.

"Of course," He replied gently, "Now Naomi what do you see?" She glanced around herself and described the dark scenery as if it was daylight. "Alright, a block down from where you are there should be a big building with stone lions in front of it. Its the library go there and wait on the steps. I'll be there in less than ten minutes." He paused, "I was planning to leave the hotel tonight, you're lucky that you caught me just after I'd finished packing." A second pause, "You're going to have to tell your family eventually sweetheart."

She remained quite for a moment. "...I know." She hung up and slowly, silently made her way though the darkness toward the building her uncle had described.

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><p>It was just as Hank had described it. The building was massive, made of old red bricks, she ran her hands along them feeling the crags and the mortar between the bricks. There were two statues of animals she'd only ever seen in books. The lions sat at the head of the stairs, resting several feet above the sidewalk, their mouths opened in an eternal, unheard roar. She kept her eyes on these creatures, the portrayal in stone so realistic she wondered if the spirits of the creatures resided in the casting. She settled onto the third step near the lion's backside.<p>

Naomi wrapped her arms around her cold body, the nearby street lamp on the corner gave an irritating glare, her tugged the edges of the hood to try and cover her black eyes. She turned away from the light a short time later. She didn't have a watch, she couldn't tell how much time had past; she'd taken to counting few cars that drove past. She reached three when a blue vehicle pulled up to the curb. The window rolled down, "Well come on Naomi, unless you're thinking of going back." The girl immediately jumped up and went to the car. "You didn't bring anything?"

"I don't have anything." She stated and climbed in with her blue furred relative. Snow began to slowly drift down as they pulled away. The car was warm enough for her to remove the first few layers of coats from her person. She sat staring at the white fluff falling in the air. A part of her in awe at the simple beauty of it. The other part to numb to care.

She was leaving, she'd finally left the prison of a home she'd lived in for years. She let out a simple sigh of relief. She closed her tired eyes and drifted into a new darkness, one that felt like freedom.

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><p><strong>Well there you go first chapter *breaks out the chocolate and root beer floats* Hope to hear from you in the comments.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**Oh, I forgot to mention previously that this fic takes place after Xavier's death, new generation kind of thing, but I'll still mention or have some of the original ones show up periodically.**

**~surprise chapter :p couldn't sleep so it got done~  
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><p>Chapter 2<p>

Beast looked over at his slumbering niece, one of the coats she'd been wearing was covering her upper body, but he'd seen the deep black marks that twitched and shifted across her arms a few times before this. While even for a big blue furry mutant like himself it was just slightly discomforting to see them crawl over her arms. It was worse to see the bruises that were on her skin. Most of them had faded to different degrees, he couldn't see any fresh marks on the girls skin. He shook his head wondering if his brother was truly related to him. He sighed heavily hoping that the further she got away from that house the better it would be.

He'd never seen her being punished for being a mutant, but the few times he'd seen her outside that blacked out room she'd had various injuries covered by bandages. When she'd been younger she had given excuses for her injuries. Tripping down stairs that she'd never walked down before in her life, falling off a nonexistent bicycle in the garage. She had tried to convince herself, and him a few times that each time her father had hit her with his fists or with something else that it was cause he was scared, not because he was angry. He looked over at her again wondering if she'd forsaken that idea, and finally come to terms that what her father did to her was out of anger at her being what she was. Hank rested his head on one hand.

Naomi rolled slightly in her sleep and mumbled something. Hank looked at her again and smiled, "Naomi." He reached over and touched her shoulder, she immediately jumped awake; he regretted touching her, "We'll be there in another couple minutes."

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, "What time is it?" She looked at the dashboard clock.

"Five-twenty." He said aloud, "Sleep well."

She smiled faintly, "Yeah, pretty well." She looked up at her uncle, "First time in a while."

"Good to hear."

"Uncle Hank... do you think they'll be mad?" She asked after a moment of silence, her voice far more timid than it had in her previous statement.

He thought about how to respond, "I'm sure your parents will be upset, but you're mother loves you and would want what is best for you."

She sunk into the reclined chair slightly, "Mom's still in denial about what I am, she thinks I'm perfect."

He sighed, "You are perfect Naomi, you're just a little more different from people." He tried to figure a way to best describe what they were. "No two people have the exact same DNA, so even if they were looking for the perfect human being there's no way to define that. Its like having blue or brown eyes, its all just a change in DNA sweetheart. You are perfect at being who you are, that's all that matters." He looked over at her from the road, she was staring out the window again, her arms crossed over her chest, he sighed. "You still don't understand?"

She shook her head, "Thanks for trying though."

Hank turned down a street and came to the rod iron gate with brick pillars. The glare of the headlights made it difficult for Naomi to read the sign on one of the pillars. Her eye sight was fine in both daylight and darkness, but having the two combined with lights in darkness she couldn't focus, shadows didn't bother her eyes, they actually often helped to define what she was looking at in the other kinds of mid-light. Hank rolled down the window letting a flurry of tiny white fluff blow through the car, Naomi shivered but didn't pull on the coat yet. She watched the flecks dance and land, several hitting her warm skin. When they landed on the blackened parts of her skin though they didn't melt. She immediately brushed them away and pulled the coat on.

Her uncle rolled back up the window after having punched in the number code. The gate groaned in protest of being suddenly used at such an early hour. She watched the gate while they pulled through then turned to watch them close behind them. Naomi swallowed feeling slightly caged in again already. "Uncle Hank..." she whispered.

"Its to keep people out, not to keep things in." He reassured, "I'm sure it's motion sensitive on the inside."

Naomi slowly nodded as they pulled up to a large cobblestone path leading up to stairs, and a building that was bigger than the library she'd been sitting by. There were a lot more windows, it had to be bigger. She stared at the dark windows while Beast climbed out of the car and asked her to wait for a minute. She nodded again and continued to watch the light less windows. From the angle they were at she could only see into the dark lower windows.

There were lots of chairs in some of them with desks, another had curtains drawn across it. Others had televisions she could see, they were off but they had that shape and the definition between screen and base. Her observance was cut short when the porch lights came on, she breathed in through her teeth, the sudden light stung her sensitive eyes.

A dark-skinned woman opened the doors, Naomi had to squint to make out her shape. White bobbed above what she was sure was a head, so white hair. The blue blur of her uncle gave this other shape a embrace, she could hear the murmurs of conversation between the two of them. The blue shape grew closer and opened the doors. "Come on Naomi, its warmer in the house..." He must of noticed her annoyed look, "It should be easier to focus inside." Naomi sure hoped so. She followed her the blue shape into the house.

Naomi closed her eyes and opened them again when the lights in the hall were turned on. Everything returned to a natural shape. She stared again, eyes wandering from the dark wood walls and stairs to the unknown to the white ceiling fan and pale colored furniture. She ran a hand softly over the back of a couch. She almost forgot she was in the company of two others when Beast cleared his throat. She turned back to the woman who had greeted her uncle.

"Aurora, this is my niece Naomi. Naomi this is Aurora, the headmaster at this school." Hank gave the introduction.

"I didn't even know you had extended family Hank." Aurora's voice was soft, but deeper than her mothers, she walked up to Naomi, "Welcome Naomi, it's a pleasure to meet you. You can call me Storm." She held out her hand to her. Naomi stepped back when the hand was offered. Storm dropped her hand back to her side and looked at the girl curiously.

"Nice to meet you." She said quietly. "What kind of school is this?" Of course Naomi had had some schooling, but it mostly consisted of home schooling, and then a few years ago schooling had faded away into a distant memory.

"Its a place where mutants can learn to control their gifts." Storm explained, "We also have normal classes as well, math, science, English I'm sure you'll enjoy staying here."

The girl looked past Storm and at her uncle, he nodded, she looked back to the headmaster, "I don't have anywhere else to go." she stated.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**To firewhisperer: You're not suppose to get it... yet. But you will, soon. ^-^ Thanks for Reviewing.  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 3<p>

Naomi followed Aurora silently though the ground level of the school, she would look back and talk to both herself and her uncle occasionally. Naomi would only nod occasionally, the other times her black eyes continued to roam every crevice and opening they walked past.

Storm stopped halfway down a hallway and walked into a room they hadn't gone into but the light was on. Naomi looked in as well. It was a kitchen. Sitting at the island bar was a boy with red hair, multiple ear piercings and a spoon hanging out of his mouth. In his left hand was a quart of Neapolitan ice cream, down the tanned arm she could see there were black tattoos formed from strange looking letters. He was in a white tank top and pajama pants covered in what she thought were dogs. His feet were bare. Storm cleared her throat. He looked up from the paper laying on the table.

He pulled the spoon from his mouth. "What's up Storm?"

"Rune, you should be in bed."

He shrugged noncommittally, "Couldn't sleep, and it's not like there are classes tomorrow." He took out another scoop of ice cream, the spoon contained white and brown with a slight amount of pink. "There isn't much ice cream left."

Storm shook her head, "I was starting to wonder why there was less every morning." She looked over her shoulder at Naomi, "Are you hungry?" Rune leaned to the side on his stool to look at her, she nodded slowly and tried to withdraw into her hood as far as she could. "Alright, Rune, you help her get something to eat and I'll forget you were out of bed after hours, this once." She walked back to Beast's side, "We're going to talk about Naomi's accommodations."

Naomi looked almost panicked at her uncle. He smiled, "We'll be just down the hall, promise." The two adults vanished from sight. Naomi kept staring at the doorway until Rune cleared his throat. She slowly turned back to him.

Rune was standing next to the fridge, returning the ice cream to the freezer but keeping the spoon in hand, "What are you hungry for?" He opened the fridge, "Looks like we have some spaghetti and meatballs from a few nights ago; Terrence made it so I wouldn't trust the sauce that goes with it. Some pizza, and... hmm, wonder how long that's been in here." He pulled out a Ziploc bag with something that looked suspiciously fuzzy. He shrugged, opened a cupboard and tossed it into the garbage. He looked up at her and locked eyes, "And there's cereal, lots of cereal."

Naomi quickly broke eye contact, "Cereal's fine." She went back to looking at the room. There were lights dangling over the island Rune had been sitting at, and a table took up the remainder of the room. "How many people go to this school?"

Rune shrugged again and got out a bowl and another spoon, his he put in his mouth again. He took it out again once he'd put the other dishes on the island, "Right now there's only seven or eight of us here, but that's cause it's winter break. The older students go on vacations, and some of the lucky kids actually go see their parents." He opened a full length cupboard revealing a small mountain of cereal boxes, "How do you know Beast?"

Naomi blinked and looked back toward him, "You mean Uncle Hank? He's my... father's brother."

"So you're Naomi McCoy then." He turned back to her, "Beast doesn't come around very often anymore, Storm gets the occasional phone call. Suppose he's busy with his government job and everything I guess." She'd come a little closer and was looking at the selection. She'd never seen so many kinds of cereal. "Aren't you a little warm in that coat?"

She held the coat tighter onto herself, she shook her head, "I'm fine."

Rune sighed, "Your mutation has a physical appearance," it was a statement. "You know, this is a school for mutants, I may not look like one, but I'm not like anyone else out there. We have a student here who oozes orange slime when he's agitated. Storm has a nephew who's covered in spikes and bony plates. You're not going to be judged on appearances." He reached pushed a few of the boxes to the side, "I'm not a psychic, so what do you want?"

Naomi reached into the almost closet like space and pulled out a red box, the front had a rabbit and in green the word Trix. She walked silently over to the island and sat down. After a moment she slowly pulled the coat off and let it hang off the back of the chair. She stared at the empty bowl for a moment waiting for a reaction, any reaction.

Milk joined the other items required for cereal. She looked up at him, "I've seen worse." He smirked, "Nice to meet you Naomi, welcome to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters."

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><p>"I have a feeling you're not telling me the whole story Hank." Storm stated, they were seated across from each other with a coffee table separating them. "What's going on?"<p>

He leaned forward and pressed his hands together. "She hasn't had the best upbringing Aurora. My brother isn't very accepting of mutants. I'm only allowed to visit once a month, and that is quite an awkward encounter." He leaned his head against his splayed fingers. "Most of her life, I believe she's lived in a dark room, because of her powers. I've never seen what she can do, but my brother was convinced that keeping her in the dark made them weaker. Naomi is someone that must be handled delicately, please Aurora I know she'll be safe here."

Storm smiled, "Of course she can stay, the Professor would never turn away a mutant in need, and I keep to that belief." She watched some of the tension leave her old friend. "I take it her parents don't know she's gone."

"She ran away." Beast sighed and gave a small, soft smile. "I'm sure she'll tell them when she feels comfortable enough."

"Why didn't she shake my hand?"

Hank wondered how to explain the mistreatment of his niece without making his brother seem as bad as he'd begun to think of him. "Well, that would also be because of my brother."

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><p><strong>Man I'm on a role. Another chapter. Don't forget to leave me a review. I'll give you a shout out at the beginning of the next chapter!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**To firewhisperer: Yes, I am rather proud of myself for updating so much this week. Her dad is quite the pain in the derriere. And you will know more!**

**To Jane A aka. Molygon: All will be revealed! Eventually :p  
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><p>Chapter 4<p>

Others began to appear in the house as the hour grew brighter. Beast had to leave to head back to Washington, he said his goodbyes and left Naomi standing next to Storm on the steps, they stood there until the car turned out of sight. Aurora went to put her hands on the girls shoulders but changed her mind just before touching her. "Well then, first order of business is to get you set up in a room."

"No!" Naomi immediately retreated several steps from her, her immediate surroundings turned a shade darker.

"Oh, no, I mean a bedroom for you to stay in while you attend the school." Aurora explained gently. "You don't have to stay in it if you don't want to, its just a place for you to sleep and keep your... things."

The girl thought on this then spoke, "With windows?" Storm smiled.

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><p>Glass french doors opened onto a small balcony, curtains were pulled back along a curtain rod that covered the rest of the wall. Storm walked in leaving Naomi staring at the room, her eyes darting suspiciously around the dark room.<p>

Storm pulled back the curtains revealing a wall of glass. The windows covered nearly the entire wall surrounding the glass doors. The pale gray sunlight filled the room. Naomi slowly walked in and stood next to Storm. She put a hand on the cold glass and smiled. Storm smiled as well, "What do you think? Would you mind having this for a bedroom?"

Naomi kept a hand on the cold glass while looking at the other contents of the room. A small dresser, a mirror on the wall and a twin size bed. Other than that, it was bare. Like the rest of the house it was dark wood and light brown paint. "Its better than what I had before." She walked to the dresser and pulled the top drawer open, it was empty. She looked over at Storm.

"I'm sure we can go look for some clothes and other things so you can personalize your room a little. There's a bathroom through that door there's a shower in there too." Storm said. "I'll leave you to it then, the others will be getting up and they need something to do or they'll destroy something, I'm sure of it." She realized Naomi had forgotten she was there. The girl had sat down in the light from the windows and was simply staring at them. "You must be tired."

Naomi nodded slightly, "Thank you Storm." She heard the door close. She began to slowly pull off layer upon layer of clothes until she was in the only pair of clothes she was wearing that were actually hers. Extremely faded blue jeans and a black T-shirt. Naomi glanced toward the mirror and got to her feet.

She very gently pulled the black shirt up over her head, hissing a breath out between her teeth as it pulled at her left shoulder. She turned her back to the mirror and looked at the angry fresh gash, hastily stitched closed by her mother with a sewing needle and thin fishing line. She pushed her dark hair away from it and observed it in the dim light. She didn't know if her dad had meant to break skin when he'd hit her with whatever it was that had been closest at hand after her uncle had left the number with her, but the injury was proof that he did. The girl thought about asking Storm to look at it, make sure it wasn't infected; make up some excuse as to why it was there. She decided against it.

Naomi went and laid on her stomach in the faint sunlight. She felt the black marks on her skin tremor slightly in the light. She turned her head to look at one on her arm. Slowly it began to change into the same color as her skin and there was no movement on her skin, but she could still sense them; not on her, but around. She looked around the room, her new bedroom once more before closing her eyes.

Sometime later there was a knock on the door. She hastily pulled the black shirt back over her head. "One minute." she called then gasped and cursed under her breath then the cloth pulled at the stitches. Naomi finally managed to get the clothes back on then opened the door.

A bubble gum bubble popped. She blinked and watched as the gum proceeded to return back into its owner's mouth. "So, you're the new girl? Storm sent me up here to tell you lunch is ready." The girl standing before Naomi had hair the same color as her gum, her eyes, curiously, matched, but with red pupils. "I'm Chameleon." With that she turned and started to walk away.

Naomi blinked and watched the girl, as she went her hair began to change color; beginning at the roots and traveling to its tips, to a shade of orange. Naomi wondered if her eyes had changed color too. She quickly followed behind her making sure her door was closed. "I'm Naomi."

"Didn't really care to learn it." the other retorted. She was about the same height as Naomi, in a leather vest and a short matching skirt. Her shirt was white and written across the front was 'Not interested.' "So, _Naomi_, what can you do?"

They walked down the stairs, "I..." she blinked, not entirely sure what she meant. "I'm not sure."

Chameleon shrugged, "You'll find out eventually. Everyone does." Another bubble came from her lips.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**To firewhisperer: you're one of my favorite reviewers. Yep, she's a charmer that Chameleon.**

**To Jinx of the 2nd law: Of course beast will be back, and yeah, I know that Beast is originally an only child, but I though, hey, if the brother really didn't like mutants and didn't like to be around him then maybe it would be okay. Rune's tattoos get explained a little bit more later on.  
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><p>Chapter 5<p>

Sitting around the kitchen were five people she didn't know. Chameleon just walked in and took a seat. Crossing her legs at the knees, and acting to pick something off her mid-calf length boots. Naomi didn't make a move to approach them, she stood back from the table, observing each of them.

One of the boys had bleached blond hair, he had a narrow face and a pair of wire framed glasses in front of blue eyes. The eyes were busy looking in a book, he turned the page and continued. Naomi looked at the girl sitting next to him, she had darker skin, like Storm's, her hair was braided in various places, some of them not even reaching the top of her head, she was playing cats cradle with a child beside her. The child couldn't be more than six, her eyes were yellow and feline, they were squinted in concentration while she tried to take the string off the previous girl's fingers, her hair was short and a kind of light brown. There was an older boy sitting in the window sill, deep in an argument with Chameleon about how terrible orange looked with pink. His hair looked like he'd just woken up that morning, it stuck up at odd angles and was a darker brown. Rune wasn't there, neither was Storm.

She finally approached them and quietly took a seat. They continued what they were doing as if she wasn't there, or like she was a usual thing at this hour. After a moment Chameleon looked over at her. "You introduced yourself fast enough to me, do they not get the same privilege, _Naomi_?" She went back to filing her nails and arguing with the boy.

Naomi bit her lip and raised her head, "I'm Naomi McCoy."

The boy in the window jumped down with a grin on his face, he slid into the seat beside her, "I'm Hart." He held out a hand to her, she looked at it but didn't take it. "It's just a hand, not like its going to bite."

The area around Naomi darkened slightly, then returned again. "I don't like being touched." The boy's mouth turned to an 'o' then he dropped his hand flat on the table.

"Well, I'll give you the intros of everyone else then." He pointed to the other boy, "That's Flicker, he's a speedy guy." The blond's eyes narrowed and peered at him over the book. Hart winked at him, "That's Terri, but she likes to be called Curse for some strange reason."

The girl grinned, "Nice to meet you Naomi. Are you related to Hank?" Naomi nodded slightly before turning to look at the next person.

Hart continued, "The squirt is Cathrine, she's a shape shifter." The child's eyes watched her curiously, Naomi quickly looked away. The door opened again, "Oh, and that's Rune, he likes to play with gravity."

Naomi turned to look at him coming in with Storm, plates in hand. "If you plan on eating the food we've been working on, then help." Naomi moved to help, "Nope, you sit there. New students get their first day off from help."

"I don't know..." Chameleon's hair changed again to almost match Rune's. "If Rune was cooking I don't know if I want to eat."

Naomi turned back to the table to find a small tabby cat sitting immediately before her. It began to change shape back to the girl, Cathrine. "Her eyes are different." She stated, her voice was childish and slightly whiny. Naomi immediately looked away.

Chameleon chuckled, "Someone left their manners in the litter box this morning."

"You wouldn't be talking about yourself now would you Cami?" Rune stated then put a plate of pancakes on the table, "Cat, off the table." He looked to Naomi, "She's a kid, she's not judging you, just stating the obvious you know."

Cathrine went back to her seat next to Curse and continued talking to her, "They're not like Chameleon's or mine, but they're pretty, they sparkle when light hits them. Did you see?" Hearing this Naomi blushed brightly.

"So, where are the other students?" She asked quickly trying to take the attention off her.

Chameleon snorted, her hair turning an icy blue along with her eyes. "Mostly off with parents, don't understand why. Its not like they mean anything to them, just another tax deduction if you ask me."

Curse leaned across the table, "Her twin brother went to see their dad this time, she was suppose to go with her mom but got blown off for her mom's new business partner." She whispered. Chameleon shot a glare almost as cold as the color of her eyes at the girl.

Naomi's hands were in fists under the table this wasn't so safe a subject either.

Curse continued, "I'm an orphan myself. So this is my home and my family."

"I prefer here to the empty house I would of been going to." Hart said semi-whimsically, "My mother took off to the Caribbean this Christmas, she wanted away from the cold."

Cathrine had a grin from ear to ear, "I went to see my mommy and daddy last week, cause they wouldn't be able to be here for Christmas."

Rune simply rolled his eyes, "No comment on parents."

Attention returned to Naomi again expecting her reason she wasn't home for winter break. She was staring rather intimidatingly at the plate that sat before her. Her eyes even darker than the black they normally where. Her hands tightly balled on her lap under the table.

There was the sound of tearing skin as the flesh across the bridge of her nose divided and revealed the blackness that had been there not hours before. Blackness bubbled around her feet, the others too occupied with looking at the area immediately surrounding her suddenly growing darker even with the light from above the table.

Storm reached out to her and grabbed her shoulder, "Nao-" Something lashed out and pushed Storm away from her. Naomi was swallowed in blackness.

It vanished as quickly as it had appeared taking with it Naomi and the chair the girl had been occupying.

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><p><strong>That can't be good now can it?<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 6<p>

She fell off the chair and onto the floor of her room beside the bed. She lay there gasping for a moment then touched the shoulder Storm had grabbed, the shirt was beginning to soak up blood. The stitches had held very well. She grimaced and just continued to lay there in the shadow of the bed. Even after hearing them calling her name though out the house. Her head was pounding in rhythm with her shoulder. The opening across her nose twitched slightly making her nose itch but she didn't want to move.

The sliding glass door came open to her room. She looked up at Storm from the corner of her eye then went back to staring at the baseboard of the wall until it blurred out of focus and the world went white.

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><p>The world was white still when she opened her eyes again, there was a murmur of voices off to her left and to her right a machine was beeping.<p>

Naomi blinked a few times until she could make out the white tiles on the ceiling. She rolled her head to the side to see Storm and two others she didn't know speaking to each other. She watched for a moment before rolling her head back again.

"You should of told someone you were hurt." Said someone, Naomi blinked and looked around again. The voice had sounded like it was right in her ear but there was no one else in the room. "You had quite the nasty staph infection, probably from that needle your mom used to sew you together." the image flashed before her eyes of the needle passing in and out of her skin. Naomi shook her head vigorously.

"Leave me alone..." She muttered. "Where are you?"

"One room over from you." the voice, distinctly female stated, "I'm a telepath, the kids upstairs call me Nightmare." Storm called Naomi's name and came over to the side of the bed, "None of them like to come down and see me so I haunt them on occasion."

"Emily leave her alone for now," Storm stated, "I'll bring her over and introduce the two of you when she's feeling better alright?"

"I guess I'll see you later then." Emily said in her mind, "We have a lot in common." the last words faded away in her mind.

"Are you feeling better?" Storm asked, "You can sit up if you want."

Naomi did so, slowly. She touched the bridge of her nose, the skin was still split and the blackness was cold to the touch, she immediately dropped her hand. "Where are we?"

"We're still in the school, we're in the lower levels." Storm pulled up a seat, "Naomi this is Ian and Paul." The two older young men walked over to the bed. They looked eerily similar, except one of them had his eyes closed.

"Pleasure to meet you." This one said, the other one said nothing.

"Ian's blind, but he can read his brother's mind. Paul can sense what a person's power is, but he has no voice." Storm explained. "He has to touch you to do so though."

Naomi scooted away slightly. "Then I'd rather not find out."

"He already did it." Ian stated. "When you were unconscious, he just touched the back of your hand." Paul took his brother's wrist and brushed his fingers across his hand softly, "Like that, there was no harm."

She looked from one to the other, "Then... what can I do?"

"My brother says you have a power over shadows, he also called them betweens." Ian stated, "He does not understand what Storm told us about your skin though, it could be because you're powers matured faster than your body could handle and because you do not use your powers this blackness under your skin is simply a reaction to the sudden use of your power."

She pulled her knees up to her chest, she bit her lip remembering what her dad had said once when he was painting in the windows of her room. "Without light, there would be no shadow." She looked up at Storm when she realized she said it aloud. "So not darkness, just shadows?" She didn't even try to ask what a between was. Paul and Ian both nodded. "Do they live at the school too?" The question was posed to Storm.

"No, they live nearby though, they teach some of the classes here." Naomi leaned forward and felt a tug at her skin under the white shirt that wasn't hers. "Careful, the glue may come undone if you move too much. It works just as well as stitches, just with less scarring."

Paul and Ian moved to leave, "Um," they paused when Naomi spoke, "Thank you." They both smiled at the same time then nodded and left the room. "What did Uncle Hank tell you about my family?" She asked cautiously.

"Only what he'd guessed." Storm leaned on the bed, "Would you like to tell me about them?" The girl bit her lip.

* * *

><p>Rune closed the door behind the brothers as they left the house. He hadn't asked any questions but they'd all made bets as to what Naomi's power would be when the two had shown up at the door.<p>

"Well?" Curse asked coming up behind him, "What did they say?"

"Didn't ask," he said simply. "I prefer to ask the person actually. Secondhand information is so unreliable."

Hart sighed, "You just don't want to owe us all money."

Rune smirked at the empath, "No, I'm pretty sure no one will be giving up money. Especially after that display in the kitchen."


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**To firewhisperer: Yep Hart's an empath. Yes that is one of the many uses she can find for shadows, it will be very entertaining to watch dear Naomi don't you agree?  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 7<p>

Naomi rocked back on the hospital bed and was looking rather interested at her knees. "He wasn't always so bad." She began softly, "Mom always said when I first came home from the hospital dad almost wouldn't let her hold me." She leaned back and looked up at the ceiling, trying to avoid looking at Storm's eyes. "That was until funny things started happening."

The room was quiet for a moment, "Like?"

Naomi thought through all the stories her mom had said in passing, she'd laughed them off as just a silly little joke that hung over the head of their family but it made more sense now knowing what she could do. "Like, one day they put me in my playpen walked to the door and turned around to look at me again, I was sitting on the floor next to the dresser, giggling and playing with my toes." she smirked. "When I was a little older I made shadow puppets on my bedroom wall, you know, a butterfly, a bunny, simple stuff. I guess I made a spider one too cause it became rather lifelike and mom took me out of the room and called an exterminator claiming there were giant spiders in our house."

She bit her lip, "About then was when I started getting punished when I did things, I didn't know it was wrong so dad told me it was. At first it was time outs, and maybe spankings. Then it turned into more..." Naomi couldn't think of the word, "as I got older. I was ten when he painted out my windows and put black tarps over the other side of them so I wouldn't scrape off the paint. Not that I would, he scared me by then." She touched the bridge of her nose again, "Then this started happening, I didn't try using my powers, but for some reason they would react when ever I saw dad coming and these black marks would appear."

"Your powers were trying to protect you." Storm stated, "When you got that cut, did your powers do anything?"

Naomi shrugged, "I don't remember. He came up behind me and hit me with something, I think a lamp or a chair... I remember mom screaming and I fell to the floor, something broke and the next thing I remember is mom stitching me up." She blinked, "Dad was sweeping up the floor."

Storm was quite for a moment, "You shouldn't have to be subjected to that sort of treatment Naomi, you should of called the police." The girl shook her head vigorously. Storm sighed. "Come with me, I'll introduce you to Emily."

Naomi lightly got off the table, her bare feet on the floor, "Where are my clothes?"

"You, Curse, Cat and I are going to go shopping before dinner. Chameleon's tastes in clothes change almost as quickly as her hair color."

"Curse said she had a brother?" Naomi asked following Storm out into the hall, also a stark white with light coming from everywhere, then to the next door over.

"Yes, Prism. He's her twin, they both change colors but he has an active power of bending light. She's in hopes her power only matures slower." Storm opened the door and stepped back.

Naomi walked into the room, most of the lights were out. She could see the glow from several monitors and heard the beep of the medical machines in sync with the occupants heart. More lights came on as she moved into the room.

Laying on the table was a girl, she looked a few years older than her. "Hi Storm, not often you make someone come down here." The voice came from no where. The girl's eyes were closed and a tube was down her throat.

"What's wrong with her?"

"She's in a coma."

"Yep, been this way since I was five." Her voice said, "My higher brain functions perfectly as you can tell, its the other lower functions. The simple stuff that people take for granted, like breathing, moving, going to the bathroom like a normal person, eating that I can't do."

Naomi didn't stray too close to the motionless girl. "How did it happen?"

Storm looked over to Naomi meaningfully, "From what Emily remembers, her parents knocked her out with prescription pain medication, then drove her to a river and dropped her in it, because she was a mutant."

"The meds were what tampered with my brain mostly, hypothermia and nearly drowning only made it worse." Emily stated, if a voice alone could smirk hers did at this time, "See we have a lot in common, you should come visit me more often." There was a pause, "I think the reason they tried to kill me was because I started projecting pictures into their heads at a very young age, about three months actually. I preferred to talk to them with my mind then aloud, eventually they would just flinch and try to ignore it when ever I spoke to them. They wouldn't let me have friends cause they were scared that I'd do the same to them, I probably would of too." Another pause, this one about the length of a person giving a shrug, "So instead of risking having people talk and spread rumors they tried to hush it all up. I'm sure you heard about from your parents or on TV occasionally even now, the little girl who wandered away from her rich mansion home and drowned in a deep river."

Naomi fled from the room.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**To firewhisperer: Yep Hart's an empath. Yes that is one of the many uses she can find for shadows, it will be very entertaining to watch dear Naomi don't you agree? Yeah, I'm planning to bring in Logan, Iceman, Rogue, ShadowCat, and the others. Just have to have to end this day and then they'll all be coming back cause winter break is over.  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 8<p>

She finally managed to find her way back up to the top floors. Naomi leaned against one of the walls and sunk down into a seated position, both of her hands over her mouth trying to keep herself silent and from gagging. That could of been her. A half strangled sob broke through her hands.

Someone sat down next to her, it was Hart. "So, she introduced you to Nightmare?" She slid away from him slightly, "I could tell from your energy. I'm an empath, everyone has had that reaction to her just about. I'd say you weren't human if you didn't think that it was terrible what happened to her." He looked over toward her from the corner of his eye, "I also noticed you don't have the best reaction to the subjects of parents. You're energy gets rather... muddled. How about I tell you about my parents."

"You said your mom was in the Caribbean." Naomi retorted.

"Yeah, my adoptive mother is." This caught the girl's attention. "Yeah, not abandoned, not unloved like some of the kids here. Mom actually asked if I wanted to skip a semester and join her in traveling." He smirked, "I was an accident for my birth mom, never heard what kind, unplanned, rape, or something else but she didn't have a way to keep a kid, normal or mutant. She cared enough to make sure I found a family that would love me, no one knew I was a mutant till I was in third grade and the bullies in my class started realizing that when ever they'd try to beat me up, they'd suddenly feel calmer and then they'd go do something else." He sighed, "My adoptive mom was told she should get me checked for being a mutant. When we found out it was true she freaked out for a few days, wondering if anything she'd ever felt toward me was real." He looked over at Naomi. "She got over it, cause she always loved me no matter if I was with her or not so she knew the feelings were true."

Naomi shook her head, "You made it sound like she didn't care."

"Sorry, all the others know what my mom's like." He put his hands behind his head, "I could help you calm down a little if you want me to, my power doesn't require contact. Course its easier if there is contact, though Chameleon is one hard girl to figure out, I haven't even been able to change her mind about simple things like strawberries. She hates strawberries for no apparent reason." He chuckled.

Naomi took a deep breath to calm herself, "No, I'd rather get control on myself, but thanks."

Hart looked her over, "Hmmm, you do pretty well at it, you're energy lightened a few shades." He stood and shrugged off his coat and gently put it around her shoulders, "Though you do feel a bit cold."

The girl smiled slightly. "Yeah." He started to walk away, "What about you're adoptive father?"

Hart paused and looked over his shoulder, "He's in the military, but I get letters from him every week, he misses mom and I a lot." With that he vanished around the corner.

Naomi curled up under the warm jacket and smiled to herself. At least there were some that had a decent life, maybe there was hope for the world yet. At least in her mind. She touched the blackness across her nose again, it was still cold. She got up and went up to her windows, a little sun would make it vanish in no time.

* * *

><p>"Where should we start?" Curse asked Naomi leaning over the front seat, "You look like a Hot Topic kind of girl, or maybe one of those other darker, gothicy stores."<p>

Naomi blinked and looked toward Storm, who was driving. "The mall usually has the widest variety, how about we start there, you're uncle said he would pay for anything you need while you stay here."

Curse gasped, "That's like, an unlimited supply of money!" she nearly squealed with joy.

Naomi gave a forced smile, "If you don't mind me asking, why do you go by Curse?"

"Of course I don't," She said waving a hand at her, "My power is a curse. I have so little control over it."

"What is your power?"

"Animation." She said simply, "Once I bring things to life I don't have any control over what they do, and until I touch them again they stay alive." She reached into her bag and produced a small doll. "See." There was a vibration through the little stuffed form.

It twitched then got to its fabric feet and pushed its yarn hair back from its face. It's face, normally a straight line of stitches slowly pulled up into a smile up at Naomi. Curse touched it again and it fell lifeless on the consul between the front seats. "It only works on inanimate objects, not people, dead or alive. Just things." She grinned, "I gave one of Wolverine's motorcycles a touch one day and it had some serious attitude problems."

Storm looked over her shoulder at her, "That was why he was in such a bad mood, did you change it back?"

"Of course I did," She said crossing her arms, she looked over at Cathrine who was staring out the window at the scenery going by. "How can she tell his good moods from his bad moods?"

"Who's Wolverine?" Naomi asked curiously.

"He's not around very often, but sometimes he comes to see Storm and some of the older students." Curse said, "I think the guy is immortal, he never looks any older no matter how long he's been gone."

They pulled into the parking lot of the mall, Storm found a parking spot, "Alright, Cat, make sure you hold someone's hand while we're in there alright?"

The girl smiled brightly, glad she had gotten to come, "Kay!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 9<p>

There were so many people around and so many places in this one small area, Naomi stuck close to Storm and the others. She noticed they were calling each other by their normal names here, she could understand that, if people knew she was a mutant she wondered how they would react. Curse called her name and showed her into one of the stores. She followed where she was beckoned her eyes began wandering once she entered the store. It had so many things to look at, and people pressing in around the stores. She didn't know where to look first.

Curse waved her over to a rack of clothes, "Do you know your sizes?" Naomi blinked then shrugged, "Have you never been out shopping before?"

She dropped her eyes and shook her head, "I wasn't allowed out of my house often."

First she apologized then she looked her over then started looking through the shirts on the rack. Naomi looked toward the door for Storm and Cat, they had gone. "Don't worry, Cat needed new shoes. Here." She handed Naomi three different shirts. "Try these on over there in the dressing rooms, they're not very tasteful but first we determine your sizes then we really shop!" Naomi walked past a few people and went into one of the small rooms and shut the door behind her.

When she came out again she handed them all to Curse, She tugged on the sleeve of one of them, "This one fits best."

Curse nodded, she smiled, "We're friends Naomi, you can call me Terri."

Naomi gave half a smile then nodded. "What about pants?" She wandered over to a rack of pants and began flipping through them. She didn't know what her style was or even if she had a style, but Curse seemed convinced she'd like something in this store. Naomi pulled a pair of dark jeans from the rack and looked at them, she'd only owned faded ones, these were beautiful. She ran her fingers over the looping designs on the back of the pockets before putting them over her arm to try on later. Curse tapped her on the shoulder, Naomi flinched slightly but turned to the other girl who offered three shirts with various designs and one with words written across the front. They both continued searching the pants until she had three pairs to try for size.

To Naomi's joy the dark jeans fit her perfectly, and according to what Curse said she had a body that would look good in any clothes. They ended up buying two of the shirts, one white with flowers and vines curling across the upper portion and down the long sleeves, and the other a black with splashes of different metallic colors on it. She bought the pants and one other pair. Curse bought herself a short skirt, red with white flowers on one side.

They walked out and met Storm with Cat, a bag in one of the little girls hand. "Need anything else you can think of?"

Naomi looked at the bag, "Shoes, probably some boots for the snow." She looked around the store again, "Some other stuff too."

The woman smiled, "Alright, shouldn't take too long, we'll join you."

* * *

><p>It was getting darker when they finally left. Naomi was holding six bags of clothes, wearing the dark jeans, white shirt, and a pair of mid-calf length black boots. Curse was holding another three bags of Naomi's and two of her own. "I'll probably have to apologize to Uncle Hank for spending so much." Naomi stated, she paused a few steps outside the mall and closed her eyes. She shook her head trying to clear her vision in this hazy light.<p>

"You alright?" Cat asked going back to her.

"I can't see very well in fading light." Naomi replied, she looked down at the child, or the blur of colors that was Cathrine.

"I can see really well, I have cat eyes. I can be your eyes if you want me to." she held a hand up toward her.

Storm turned watching the two of them. Slowly Naomi put all the bags into one hand, she bit her lip and took the small hand in her own. Cat walked at Naomi's side looking from side to side to make sure nothing was coming and so they wouldn't run into things. They all climbed into the car and headed back to the school.

* * *

><p>Naomi pulled the chair from the kitchen onto the balcony and sat with her feet on the edge of the fencing around the balcony. It was an almost clear night. She watched the stars with fascination. She could see most of them were white, but some of them appeared to be different colors. She smiled to herself and watched them slowly move through the sky, this was freedom.<p>

"Pretty isn't it."

The chair nearly tipped backwards, she looked around for the source of the voice. Then caught sight of Rune, leaning on the edge of a smaller balcony a few rooms down. He was looking at the lights in the city, then up at the stars. "Which one?"

"Both," He looked over toward her, "Kind of looks like the city's trying to copy the stars sometimes. Around two in the morning all the lights are out, you can see countlessly more stars then."

Naomi looked up at the heavens again, then smiled in the darkness, "I already see them." She pointed up and to the left, "There's a spiral of stars over there."

Rune smirked, "So, decided to stay then?" Naomi replied in the positive, "Well tomorrow everything will get louder."

"Why?"

"End of break, they'll all be coming back, and classes will start again." Rune stood up straight and saluted toward her, "Sweet dreams Naomi."

She stood there until Rune had gone back in, she sat down again, "School..." She smiled, she'd always wanted to go to an actual school.

* * *

><p><strong>Huzzah, the arrival of more people next chapter! Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing.<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**To Firewhisperer: Thanks so much for all the reviews, I love hearing from you. Hart's a pretty good guy I agree. And of course Uncle Hank won't mind ^-^  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 10<p>

Naomi curled up under the warm comforter that Storm had given her from one of the other kid's old things. She heard her door open, she opened one groggy eye. Two yellow ones stared back at her. She shot up out of the bed, a pair of shadowy looking hands wrapped around the form of a kitten, it mewed in confusion. Naomi fell backwards off the bed and the kitten fell onto the bed. She stared at her ceiling for a moment, and felt the tips of her fingers crack slightly. The yellow eyes stared down at her again. "I swear I locked that door," She groaned and sat up on her elbows, "What's going on?"

Cat mewed again then jumped down to her side and purred. She shifted back to the child shape, "Storm told me to come wake you up cause you didn't get an alarm clock yesterday." Cathrine pointed at the door, "It wasn't locked." She turned her head to the side, a signal of curiousness. "What were those things that grabbed me?"

Naomi got to her feet, "You startled me, it was my shadow, at least I think it was mine." She looked toward where her shadow should of been, it wasn't there it was ponderously around her feet, bubbling slightly, "Oh calm down." She scolded, it didn't seem to work. Naomi sighed and looked at the girl, "How long until more people show up?"

"Some people got here really late last night," Cat was sitting on Naomi's bed again kicking her feet slightly, "They're probably in their rooms still too. Usually we all make our own breakfasts before classes start." She hopped down, "I better go. Bye Naomi." She skipped out the door and closed it behind her. Naomi locked it and went into her bathroom. She'd bought the essentials while out last night, so there was a toothbrush, toothpaste, a few towels, a bottle of some fruity shampoo and conditioner and a bottle of body wash.

She stripped out of the white shirt and white shorts she'd received while in the lower sections of the school and took a soothing hot shower. When she stepped out of the shower and wrapped in a towel she looked at herself in the mirror. Naomi bit her lip and opened another of the drawers under the sink and took out a pair of scissors. She looked at her long hair in the mirror then selected a piece; she'd learned to cut her own hair a while ago, or else she would of had extremely long hair. She cut it at just above eye level, it wouldn't take too long.

* * *

><p>Naomi came down the stairs feeling a bit lighter, as her hair had dried it had seemed to have a style all its own, she'd tried to tame it slightly with a good brushing, all it had done was fluff out slightly. She was in a pair of loose jeans, a pale purple shirt and Hart's jacket. She peeked into the kitchen to see how many people were there.<p>

"Its a different look for you." She jumped slightly at the voice behind her, it was the blond boy, the one Hart had said was a speeder. He adjusted his glasses slightly, "Not that its a bad thing." He walked past her, another book was tucked under his arm. He sat down next to another boy, this one had green hair and pale skin. They began to talk animatedly about something. Naomi walked in and retrieved a bowl from the cabinet.

Another new face came up beside her and reached for a bowl as well, "You must be the new girl." He said, he smiled and nodded his head in the direction of Chameleon, "I hope my sister didn't give you too much grief, I'm Prism." He did look a good deal like his sister, at the moment his hair was an off white, his twin's hair was a placid brown, "She's not a morning person."

She tried to offer a small smile, "I'm Naomi." She grabbed a spoon from the drawer and went for the cereal cupboard. "Storm told me your power is bending light?"

"Yeah," Prism replied, "I can get some pretty cool effects when there's enough white light around. There's not much I can do in the winter though, unless its a clear day." He grabbed a box of some cereal or other. "What about you, what's your power?"

Naomi shrugged slightly, "I'm told its shadows, but I don't know what that means exactly."

Prism nodded, "Sound interesting, maybe we'll get a chance to do a run in the danger room together and see what you can do."

She nodded back, "Yeah, sounds fun." Prism went to sit next to his grouchy sister, Naomi looked in the cereal cupboard and wondered what he meant.

A hand went over her head into the maze of boxes, there were black tattoos on the skin, "Having trouble deciding again?" Rune asked.

"What's the danger room?" She asked looking up at him.

"Its in the basement, usually five or six students at a time go down and train using their powers." He offered her the box of Trix, she took it. "You know, see whose power are compatible with others." He grabbed a smaller box of what looked like cereal bars and took two. "Storm wants to see you in her office by the way, figure out which classes you'll take, etcetera." He winked, "I like the hair." And with that he vanished out the kitchen door.

Naomi decided to go after she ate.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**To Firewhisperer: Yeah and just imagine how Prism and Chameleon get along. :p Naomi's hair is something like a pixie cut, but probably a little longer in the back, I mean she cut it herself after all.  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 11<p>

Naomi opened the door to one of the room, there were already a handful of other students sitting at tables talking about their winter breaks and the presents they got for Christmas. Naomi immediately looked for a shadowy corner to sit it. It made her feel more comfortable. The table she sat at had two other girls already sitting at it. She forced a smile as she sat down next to them. They looked at her for a moment and smiled back before returning to their conversation.

A few minutes later an young man walked into the room. He had white feathery wings. They were in a harness of some kind to keep them folded neatly against his back, he took one of the closer seats. The girls next to her giggled. Naomi looked over at them, they were looking at him and whispering to each other. The wings shifted slightly in their harness then he opened a book and began to ignore the giggles.

More people began to file in, Hart among them. He smiled and nodded at Naomi, she waved slightly. He came over and sat in the chair in front of her, "Fancy meeting you here."

"Its a class," Naomi stated.

The girls next to her laughed, one leaned over, "He's trying to be funny." She leaned on her hands, "Seems a little lost on you though, when's the last time you got out?"

Naomi looked down at her hands, "Too long." She noticed the slight movements of her shadow and took a deep breath. "So," she looked back up at the girl, "What's your name?"

The girl looked her over again before replying. "Ivy." She motioned to her companion, "This is Siren."

"Ivy's a plant freak, and Siren can do something with her singing." Hart added, the girls both huffed and went back to their own conversation. "Don't worry, some of them take a while to decide to be nice."

An adult walked into the room. He put a stack of books on the table and began to talk about Chaucer. Naomi had no idea who it was they were talking about. The occasional other student would give comments Naomi put her head down on her hands and listened. She caught on that this person was a writer, and he was dead. As to the stories he wrote, she was lost. She'd have to ask someone, probably Hart exactly where she could get a copy of this book so she could have at least some idea.

"_Pathetic of you_._" _Naomi's head shot up and she looked around for a moment, "_Honestly this again?"_

Naomi out a hand against her forehead, "Leave me alone Emily."

"What was that?" The teacher asked looking over at her.

She flushed, "Nothing, its just... Emily." She scratched the back of her head and tugged on a few strands of hair.

A few of the kids laughed, "I see, what does she have to say?"

"_Well, the Canterbury Tales are all by different people in their journey, each of them a different author, so a different voice. That is a great skill on Chaucer's part to master all the different voices."_ Naomi sighed and relayed the message.

The teacher nodded thoughtfully then continued. Naomi sighed and lowered herself back to the table top. "Don't do that again." she begged.

* * *

><p>There were another two classes she went to and then there was lunch. She went into the kitchen and found herself alone. She went to the fridge, there was a jar of jam, so she assumed there was peanut butter somewhere. After locating the bread and the other item to smear on the bread she made herself a sandwich.<p>

"That's a boring lunch." Rune walked in from outside, black smudges across his face and arms. He pulled out a bag of Oreos and opened it up.

"Peanut butter and jelly is a classic." Naomi retorted. She cut it in half and took a bite out of one half. The other floated up off the plate, she blinked watching it.

Rune plucked it out of the air and took a bite. "Hmmm, raspberry." She frowned slightly, "How was class?"

She shrugged, "I had no idea what they were talking about most of the time and Emily kept bugging me." She took another bite of the sandwich. "You've got something black on your face."

"Huh?" He wiped his arm across his face smearing it further. "Oh, I was messing around with the bike in the garage." He ate more of the sandwich and held it in his teeth. He went to the sink and washed his arms, hands and face before eating the rest of the sandwich. "What you up to next?"

"I'm meeting up with someone named Nightcrawler. Storm said he could help me control my power some." she sat on the counter and took another bite of sandwich. "What's he do?"

"Teleporter." Rune said jumping up to sit next to her. Naomi slid to the side slightly. "Maybe something to do with that shadow jumping you did yesterday." The fridge popped open and a soda floated out of the side of the door. "Mind grabbing that for me? I'll get you one too if you want." Naomi plucked it out of the air and handed it to him.

"Can't you bring it to you?"

"No, I can't add momentum to things, only decrease the gravity on them." He flicked the can away from himself and kept it floating. "In order for it to be in motion a different force has to be added to it." It slowed to a stop over the island. "Or decrease the presser in it." The can began to tremble then exploded. The liquid kept floating in the air while the can blasted down from the momentum. "And that's gonna be a mess." Naomi jumped down and touched one of the bubbles of liquid then slurped it into her mouth. She then turned to Rune.

"You get the rest." She vanished out the door and headed to the front door where she was suppose to meet Nightcrawler.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**To Firewhisperer: I always think out my characters very carefully. Makes them more fleshy. The teacher is a random OC, he'll be around more though so I'll have to flesh him out more later. Keep reading to find out about her power and all the wonderful training sessions she gets. ^-^ As always, thanks for the review.  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 12<p>

Nightcrawler. Naomi went to the front door and stood waiting. She hoped he wasn't a bug. There was what sounded like a plastic bag imploding and a ploom of black smoke. Naomi waved a hand to try and disperse it and saw the blue skinned man standing before her.

"Are you Naomi?" He had a thick accent, and looked the girl over a few times, "My name is Kurt Wagner. I was told to find a Naomi to help her learn her powers."

"Yeah, I'm Naomi." She wrapped her arms tighter around her middle. Her own eyes roaming the marks on his skin, the three digits on his hands, then back to his yellow eyes. "You're a teleporter, how are you suppose to help me learn my power?"

"Quite simple really." Storm came across them in the door way and smiled at Kurt, "Hello Kurt, its been a while." She gave the blue figure a hug then turned to Naomi, "You moved from a shadow in the kitchen to one in your bedroom, We're in hopes that Kurt can show you how to control where you are going and when you move."

"A shadow walker then?" Kurt said, "is that all she does?"

"I'm not sure what else I do." Naomi stated. "I can vaguely remember shadow puppets coming to life." She looked at Storm, "I'll try it if it helps."

"Then get a warmer coat on, we're going into the forest to practice." Kurt stated, "Less likely to be seen, and more area to work with."

Naomi nodded and ran up the stairs.

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><p>She hadn't liked having to let Nightcrawler hold onto her when he teleported them. Her heart was pounding when they arrived in a snow dusted clearing surrounded by thick trees. "Where are we exactly?"<p>

"Not far from the school." Kurt replied, he scratched the back of his head with a finger, "I haven't done much teaching in my life so we'll begin slowly. We're both learning in that way."

Naomi nodded, "So, where are you from?"

"I was born in Germany." He said simply.

"I see, so that's the accent." She stamped her feet, "So what should I do first, Teacher?"

Nightcrawler tapped his chin, "Well teleportation, as well as any other power takes much concentration to control." He paced a bit before coming back to face his pupil. "Show me how you use shadows to move first, then we will figure out how to continue."

She looked around, "Alright." She looked at her own shadow, it contracted from behind her to pooled around her feet again. She took a breath, felt the skin along her sides crackle and the shadow swallowed her up as she sank down. Kurt stood in the clearing alone for a moment. From the corner of his eye he noticed a movement in the trees. Naomi came out from the shade, picking pine needles out of her hair and dusting off her backside. She sighed, "I didn't come out where I planned..."

"Where did you want?" Nightcrawler asked curiously.

"Behind you, your shadow."

"Well you came up behind me somewhere," He said then smiled, "More concentration, yes, I think it would help you." The sound happened again and the smoke appeared where the blue skinned mutant had been then again when he appeared at her side. "I must know exactly where I wish to be, or I could come out inside of something, or too high or low." He slowly and gently put a finger against her forehead, "You must do the same, or you will emerge from your shadow somewhere wrong."

"Like up a tree." She inserted.

"Yes, try again?"

Naomi gave a determined smile and nodded.

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><p>When they returned to the school Naomi's forearms as well as stomach were almost entirely blackened from her opening skin. Kurt had been concerned if they continued for longer it could become permanent or some other damage would begin. Naomi was exhausted, but had one final class to attend. She went up to her room and changed into a long sleeved shirt to cover as much of it as possible.<p>

Storm had said that along with normal studies and power training she needed to pick some sort of extra curricular activity. Something that could express herself without the use of powers. Naomi looked around her room just before leaving. She paused and looked at her shadow on the wall then with her hands made a butterfly shadow. She felt her palms crackle then put down her hands again. The butterfly's wings fluttered for a moment before flying across the wall of her room and landing on the shadow of a bed post. Naomi smiled and closed the door, the insect remained moments longer then evaporated like smoke on the wall.

There were many things she had always wanted to try, and now that she was free of her prison home she was planning to try as many as possible. Beginning with this dance class. The room was a small gym, there were about ten other girls in the room, all of them stretching in various ways. Naomi blinked watching them all. Ivy was standing next to a mirror, one leg on a beam beside it and stretching toward her toes. Naomi bit her lip, not sure she would be able to do this.

A girl bumped into her, "Oops, sorry." She smiled then looked Naomi over, "Oh, you're the new girl, right? I'm Kitty." She held out a hand to her, and took her hand. "Don't worry about looking bad. Not many of us have danced before anyway."

It wasn't very comforting, "I'm Naomi."

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><p><strong>Yeah, she's going to try ballet, so sue me.<strong>

**Thanks to everyone who has been reading my fic. My updates may slow down for a while, work has begun to eat away at my free time aka. writing time. But, don't worry, even if it doesn't get updated, I'm still working on it, still writing when I can! Until next time, leave a review!  
><strong>


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**To Firewhisperer: The cracks on her skin are kind of spiderwebby when they first start out, or like paint on an old canvas. The larger they get the more of the dark skin underneath you see, so like portions of skin start to vanish, not like fall off, but dissolve or disappear into the darker parts of her skin, so like when you take out pieces in a cracked window or something is what it looks like when they get bigger. They're there because her powers are stronger than she is, cause they evolved pretty fast and she didn't use them so she didn't learn how to control them so they started to sort of reveal themselves in this fashion.  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 13<p>

"One, and two, and one and two..." the mantra of the room continued to repeat over the soft sound of the music. Storm stood at the front of the room, she evidently was the teacher of the ballet class. Naomi sat watching against the wall, stretching. She wasn't watching the people she was watching their overlapping shadows and their smooth movements, she smiled and leaned out across one leg while watching Ivy's shadow move smoothly into the different forms that Storm was asking for.

The one thing Naomi had to regret already about the class was everyone was in leotards. There had been extras from others who had left the class and one had been given to Naomi, unfortunately it was short sleeved, and while there were windows and light was coming into the room from them the cracks and black areas on her arms, like broken shards of glass were the subject of many a cursory glance from the girls in the room. She looked at them again herself, at least they hadn't been mobile in a few days. She supposed it had something to do with all the sunlight she'd been getting that they no longer looked for other places on her body. The sleeves did, however, cover the healing wound on her shoulder, of which Naomi was grateful.

After another few minutes of stretching Storm had the class divide into a few small groups then she came over to Naomi. "This is your first class," Naomi nodded, "Everyone else is going to be ahead of you, so I'll be working with you for a while to get you caught up with some of the lower level dancers in the class, alright?"

She smiled and stood, "Absolutely."

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><p>When the class finally let out Naomi was more tired than she'd been at the end of training with Nightcrawler. Her injured shoulder was aching slightly, she rubbed it while she walked toward the stairs planning to take a nice warm shower before getting something for lunchdinner. She also planned to get out of the school for a few hours, maybe get familiar with the landmarks around town.

She collided with someone coming the other direction. "Sorry." She said as they both stumbled back a step.

"You should be." The other said, steely yellow orbs stared agitated at her, "Watch where you're walking around here or you'll end up in trouble." He stormed out the front door and vanished.

Naomi blinked, in the few moments she'd seen him she'd noticed there was an almost scaly texture to his skin and his hands ended in what looked almost like claws. She went over to the window in time to see a car peel out from the garage.

"Don't worry about it." She turned her head back to see Rune coming up the stairs from the basement. "Dragon's just a sore loser. He's also a bad winner." He wiped what looked like soot from his face.

"Dragon..." She turned back to looking out the window, the name fit him pretty well. She then looked back to Rune. There was more of what looked like smoke stains and a few small holes with burn marks on his shirt.

He smirked slightly at her appraising glance, "He breaths fire."

"Rune seems to be the only one who can agitate him enough though," Chameleon commented while coming down the stairs. Her hair was almost a calm color, a pale blue. She was in a low cut white shirt and holey slim jeans. "You seem to be the only one to get on his bad side Rune, you like having brimstone breath breathing down your neck?"

Rune shrugged, "He's no worse than anyone else I know of." He pointedly looked at Chameleon. She frowned and her hair darkened, turning a purplish color.

She flicked her hair back over her ear and looked over to Naomi, her eyes went to her arms, "What is that?"

Naomi dropped her own eyes to her arms, they were still cracked, almost like old paint in some places, others there were still gaps of blackness where there didn't appear to be skin. "I used my powers a little too much." She replied and went back to looking at the color changing girl.

She smirked, her hair turning a deeper shade of purple. "Well, that's just too bad, its such a ugly effect too." With that she sashayed past her and down to another class room.

Naomi looked at her arms again, ugly?

Rune shook his head, "She shouldn't be saying anything," he stated, Naomi looked up at him, "She has this nasty looking tattoo on the front of her thigh, she says its a chameleon, but it looks like a rainbow colored dysfunctional bug." Naomi blinked and tilted her head to the side slightly, "Everyone's seen it, especially in the summer when she's in those itty bitty bikinis that she thinks are flattering to her."

Her eyes then went to the tattoos on his arms. Feeling where her gaze had fallen he scratched the back of his head then wrapped one hand around the other wrist. "Mine are a little more complicated to explain than that."

"They're runes right? That's why they all call you that." Naomi began.

"Yeah, that and it's my name." Rune replied.

"So, you got them because of that?"

"No, I have them because of my parents." He started to walk off, "I can tell you don't like to talk about your parents, so don't try and pry into mine. I don't like talking about them either." He vanished into the kitchen.

Naomi stood there for a moment more before going up to her room. She took a quick shower then laid in the pale light coming in from her windows to make the black skin disappear.

There was a knock on her door while she was laying on the floor. She laid there for a moment more before going to the door. No one was there, there was three books on the floor though. She picked them up, the first was the works of Chaucer, the second was a novel, called Shadow Walkers, and the third was a textbook, Algebra.

There was a note in the Chaucer book, _These are just for you to borrow. Make sure I get them back in the same condition. Flicker_ . Naomi looked at the back of the three by five card, it had a small map of the school, it marked her room and where Flicker's room was. Flicker's handwriting was small and sharp. She smiled, "Thank you." She called down the hall way, sure the boy was somewhere nearby.

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><p><strong>Ugh, I had to rewrite this chapter twice. I went to save it and fanfiction had logged me out.<strong>

**P.s. To all those who are artists out there who read my strange work, I love fan art! You can totally draw them up, even if you don't think you're good, you're probably better at drawing than I am. That, and I'd love to see how everyone sees my characters! 3**

**Until next chapter, yours truly.  
><strong>


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**To Firewhisperer: Stuff, stuff is what's going to happen :p**

**To HP: (Whoever you maybe) Thanks, I liked the last chapter too. ^-^  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 14<p>

There wasn't much to see of the city, there were lots of stores and lots of people walking around them. Storm had refused to let her go alone into the city, the only person available at the time was Rune. It was to his dismay that he didn't have the excuse of a class at the time.

He exhaled on his hands and rubbed them together trying to get them warmer, "Is there a reason you wanted to go on this little walk or just to get out of the house?" He tugged his coat collar closer to his neck, "Cause I've never liked the cold and would prefer to be at the school."

Naomi looked over her shoulder at him, "Its not that bad." She walked past a few stores before pausing in front of one. She gazed at the chocolate and other sweets in the window. "That looks really good..."

Rune watched her silently for a moment before something close to realization struck him, "You... you haven't experienced a lot of things in life have you." When Naomi's eyes dipped down toward the floor he took that as a yes. "Wow, I've finally met someone who had a life worse than mine." He took her hand and pulled her into the confectioners establishment.

He bought a chocolate covered caramel apple, chocolate covered strawberries in white, milk and dark chocolate and finished off with purchasing a pair of large chocolate peanut butter cups. Rune then took her to a seat and placed the items before her. "I didn't know what you like, do you?"

She looked at the items, "I've never had any of them." She admitted. "What did you mean worse than yours?"

He sighed, "How about this. I'll tell you something about my parents, but you have to tell me about yours too."

Naomi could agree to that, "What do you want to know first then?"

He took one of the peanut butter cups and took a bite, "What's with wanting windows?"

"I was locked in a bedroom where my dad had painted out the windows so no light could come in and I was left alone in that dark room nearly all the time I was alone." She replied, "your tattoos?"

He sighed, "Very complicated." Naomi ate one of the white chocolate strawberries, she blinked in surprise, she made a few different sounds of enjoyment as she ate the rest of it, Rune grinned. "Alright, the girl likes strawberries." She smiled a bit then repeated her question. "First off about them, my parents were highly set in their religion. I don't remember what religion they said they were, or even if it was one, but they were very... attentive to every thing about what they believed. I...ah... wasn't born in a hospital, so when I started showing my powers almost immediately... I had a temper tantrum and things started falling and floating around me, they thought I was possessed by a demon or was a changeling instead of their baby."

"What does that have to do with the tattoos?" Naomi asked, he was saying a lot more than what she expected with her first question.

He waved a hand and ate one of the other strawberries. "I'm getting there. So they tried a few things first, exorcism, touching iron to my skin," Naomi raised an eyebrow, "Changelings will burn at the touch of iron." He stated, then chuckled. "Useless facts I learned from my parents..." he shook his head, "So when none of that worked they resorted to these." He put one hand on the table with his wrist up, there were six runes across it, the other was the same, "It was suppose to either bind the demon in me, or protect me from outside forces. Each year more tattoos were applied. I'd show you the last one I got but I'm sure I'd get arrested for indecent exposure." Naomi blushed, "Yeah... the one that took the longest is on my back, big thing, suppose to hold lots of power..." His voice trailed off, "So I take it that was more than you expected... my turn?" She nodded while sampling the other peanut butter cup. He looked around, glad no one else seemed to be paying attention to their semi-hushed conversation. He leaned across the table. "What's with you not wanting to be touched?"

Naomi put the chocolate treat down and pressed her hands against the table, he noticed a slight bubbling in her shadow. "Well that would be my dad."

"...To touchy a subject?" He asked quietly, "I'll ask something else if you don't-"

"No," she cut him off, "Well, yes it is hard to talk about, but... Storm told me it would be good to tell other people, other than her."

"You told Storm?"

She nodded, "She said it would get easier to talk about the more people I told," she smirked looking at her hands, "Not easy yet... My mom wouldn't touch me cause she thought I was sick. That's what my dad told her anyway." She cleared her throat and looked up at him, "Dad said it was his fault that I was sick so he would fix it. His method to fix it was... rather... painful, and never did anything but hurt me."

Rune nodded, "Sounds like my mom. No matter how much I said the tattoos hurt she said it would fix me and make me better."

All that was left was the apple. Rune cut it into fragments and handed her a piece, "Question?"

"How did you get to the school from all that?" She took a bite, "Mmmmmmm..." She sank into her chair slightly, "This is good stuff."

He chuckled, "My parents dropped me off at the front gate, said it was a special school for kids like me, and if I was good then they'd see me after school." She opened her mouth to ask when he continued, "I was about ten, after that first day of classes I walked home and found the house completely empty. They'd up and moved while I was at the school, but they'd left everything in my room just how I'd left it." He ate some of the apple too, "I stayed in that empty building for a few more days, then Wolverine came and dragged me back to the school."

"And you've been there ever since."

"Well, no." He said with a shrug, "I left for about a year when I was fifteen. I joined another group of... mutants..." He was looking out the window, Naomi followed his gaze, there was a group of five standing across the street, watching them. "Could you just... stay here for a minute Naomi." He got up and left the building. She watched as he went across the street to them. They spoke for a while, then one of them shoved Rune. She watched as he continued to talk to them, slowly she walked to the door and opened it.

A stream of fire flew from one of them and broke through the store window, one of them smirked and looked toward her standing there, he flicked a hand, flames leaped from his hand and flew toward her. Her shadow came up from the ground and swallowed the flames, then returned to the ground when they ceased.

They were gone, only Rune remained. He walked over toward her and apologized, "Pyro..." he began, "Is a bigger hot head than Dragon."

"Who's he?"

He scratched his neck. "Its really complicated, but I left them. They don't take abandonment too well." They heard sirens. "Come on, we should get back to the school." Rune started walking, slowly Naomi turned to follow.


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**To Firewhisperer: lol, yeah, should of probably added some sort of reaction to that fun little bit shouldn't of I? Maybe he just wasn't paying attention and didn't noticed the whole 'shadow-jumped-off-ground-and-ate-fire' bit .**

**To ThatOneKid: Thank you so much for the compliments, I have a thing for making my characters believable, if I don't think they'd stand up against a small gust of wind I have to fix them.  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 15<p>

Rune asked her not to mention it to Storm as they approached the manor. After a moment she agreed. The gate opened as someone headed out, on foot. It was Hart.

"Hey, I was just coming to find you guys. Storm asked me to." He looked them over, "What happened?"

"Nothing." Rune replied and shouldered past the empath.

Hart grabbed his arm, "You know you can't lie to me Rune, I see right though them," He looked at Naomi, her energy was a disruptive mess, "Even if you don't show it she does."

Rune sighed, "You really are an intrusive guy." He put his elbow on Hart's shoulder, "I'll tell you tonight after lights out, alright?" He looked over his shoulder at Naomi, "Would you mind watching her for a while, I'm heading back out."

Naomi frowned, "I'm not a lost puppy that needs watching." She stormed past the boys and into the house.

Hart watched her go, "Watch what? Her angry energy fluctuate with disinterest and annoyance?" He glanced at Rune, his energy was also annoyance, but underneath it Hart sensed a bit of intrigue and interest. "Oh no you don't, you remember the last girl you followed around? You went right into that shadow brotherhood after her."

Rune rolled his eyes, "Please, I just think that if you caught on that something was bothering her than anyone could."

"Rune, I have something I need to tell you." He put a hand on each of the other boys shoulders, "I'm an empath, I can read other peoples emotions."

The other hit Hart in the side, Hart feigned pain and stumbled away. "I have another secret for you, you're a bad actor." At that Rune turned back toward the city.

"I have another one, you are the leech when it comes to friendship!" Hart yelled after him. Then turned up the drive and headed back to the house.

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><p>Naomi began to wander around the house, she heard soft music floating from somewhere in the back classrooms. She walked as silently as she could manage down the hall and peered into each of the room until she found the source of the sound. Flicker was sitting at a piano, the rest of the room was empty. Slowly she tried the doorknob and found it locked. The music suddenly cut out mid-cord.<p>

The girl looked up and the figure at the piano was gone, another door across the room was swinging on its hinges. Naomi blinked.

"Flicker's a little shy when it comes to girls." She jumped slightly then looked up at Hart who was looking into the window in the door over her head, "I'm surprised he actually managed to say a few words to you this morning." He looked down at her and smiled.

Naomi frowned, "I don't need to be looked after." She started to walk away. She heard the door click open she turned to see Hart walking into the room. She blinked, positive that it had been locked moments before. Naomi walked in after him, he was sitting at the piano now.

He picked out a few random cords, "Piano never was my thing, had a year of lessons on my mom's behest, but," he shook his head, "Never really enjoyed it." He glanced up at her from the corner of his eye, "So, what happened?"

She crossed her arms over her chest, "Why should I tell you?"

"Cause something about it is bugging you." He stated simply, "I'm just a concerned friend, that's all."

After a moment of thinking about it she sat down next to him on the piano bench. "Someone threw fire at me."

"Are you alright?" He asked calmly.

"Yeah... my shadow kind of jumped up and swallowed it." Naomi said.

His fingers paused on the keys letting a cord linger in the air. "Really?" She nodded, his fingers moved again. "Interesting, sounds like a defense mechanism. Ever had it do that before?"

She thought about this, there were a few times when her father had gone to hit her and it never had made contact. But she shook her head. "So, if I'm in danger my shadow will try and protect me?"

Hart shrugged, "Its possible."

"Where do you think Rune went?"

Hart's fingers stumbled making a dissonant cord, "Do yourself a favor and don't worry about him for one, and another thing, try not to get too close." He switched the side that his legs were on, "Rune is... like a mirage. You think you know whats there, but underneath that image there's something else entirely." With that he got up and headed to the door, "Foods in the kitchen, as always. Someone bought chinese take-out, there's still a few containers of rice and other stuff if you want it."

"Thanks." She said softly. He nodded then closed the door. Naomi waited a few minutes before leaving the room. Food, while it sounded appetizing, wasn't something she wanted at the moment. She walked down stairs into the basement.

Slowly walking through the white corridors she eventually found her way to the door of a certain room. She knocked on the door, it opened. She walked in and sat next to the still form of Emily.

"This is an interesting development." Emily's voice said. "A visitor."


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**I just thought everyone should know, its five days into the month and this story already has over one thousand hits. You make me feel loved.  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 16<p>

They sat in silence for a short time. It wasn't a companionable one, it was more like the silence where people were trying to say something but the words were clogged at the throat. Emily's voice sighed, "You down here hiding or something? Cause its rare anyone comes down here but Storm. So why are you here?"

Naomi sat looking at her hands, they were flat against each other between her knees. "You know about everyone here right?"

There was another silence, "Yes, well most of them. Some of them have better defenses in their minds." There was a pause long enough for a slight head tilt, "You should try and get some, you're minds an open book."

"You could teach me that right?"

"Psh, so that's why you came here? To use me?"

She shook her head, then replied aloud not sure she could sense a head movement, "No, I actually just wanted to know more about who I'm living with, including you. You're the one who brought up telepathic defenses."

A moment of silence, "Touche. There isn't much more to know about me, I don't have a favorite color or food, I haven't eaten food in years." Emily's voice sighed, "But I do miss chocolate." Naomi felt something prod at her mind, "Oh, you had chocolate covered strawberries?" The voice sounded jealous. "With Rune?" Surprise," He's usually such a cheap person."

Naomi quickly closed her eyes and tried to force the Emily out of her mind, "Nope, its not that simple dear girl. The best way to protect from intrusion is to have a defense already there, its harder to make something leave than it is to keep something out. You don't put up a wall once somethings inside, you try and cut them off from what you don't want them to know."

What didn't she want her to see? Well, everything, but there were things that Emily already seemed to know about her that she'd taken from her mind already. Everything else had to be protected. Naomi began to mentally cover things with black cloths, much like someone would cover art work in a gallery or furniture when people moved away and left things there.

"Its a start, but its a flimsy cover." Emily stated. "So, who do you want to know about?"

"Anyone who I haven't met."

"How about... Tori, she's not back from her vacation yet." Emily began, "She goes by Sparky. Tori's not allowed to touch anything electronic, she has a tendency to fry things when she does. She creates electrical currents. Oh, and she has a major thing for Hart."

Naomi smiled, a sigh that almost sounded like a laugh crossed her lips, "Why wouldn't she? Hart's a great guy, even if he can change how a person feels. I think that first feeling when he comes into a room is him just sensing the feel of the room not trying to change things though."

"Yeah, its become a habit of his I think. It gets him into trouble." Emily's voice sighed. "Poor guy though, Hart can't get Sparky not to not like him. From what I've observed in the school up there, she's over zealous in everything she does, including how she feels. I think it overwhelms the poor empath."

Naomi looked over at the perfectly still form for the first time since she'd arrived, "Do you ever get out of here?"

"Not really," Emily said with a sort of sad tone. "I can wander from mind to mind in the school and watch, but I don't physically leave this room ever." She sighed, "Its snowing... I wish I could actually see it, or even feel it."

Naomi closed her eyes for a moment. She felt the skin on her hands crackle, she mentally searched the school grounds for a nice shady place she'd seen before. She willed the shadows to open. She opened her eyes and looked up at a particularly dark shadow above them and connected the two. It took a moment, and the spidery cracks on her hands spread up to her wrists and left her fingertips blackened.

She watched it for a moment, nothing happened then slowly. Flakes of white began to flutter down around them. Emily gasped when the first of them began to settle on her body. "That is amazing! Its so cold!"

"You can still feel?"

"Yeah, Storm tries to keep the room the same temperature all the time but... its annoying." The voice hummed in enjoyment as more of the flakes drifted and fell against her skin. "This is the first time anyone's ever done anything for me. Thank you."

"Well, you helped me, I thought it would only be kind to return the favor." She looked at her hands, the cracks were still spreading slowly. "I'm going to close it, then I should probably go. I'll come back next time that I can alright? Maybe you can help me more with mental protection."

"Sure, I was starting to feel a little tired anyway."

Naomi closed the shadows, then walked to the door and closed them. It wasn't a regular conversation, but it hadn't killed her to sit there and talk with the comatose girl in the basement either. Her mind distracted with thoughts of, wow, I can't believe I made a portal to bring snow into the house, Naomi nearly bumped into someone else on the stairs. It was a girl, her skin looked like granite, in fact her entire body looked to be made of granite. "Sorry, I should learn to pay attention." the girl said quickly. "Gah, I'm late!" She darted off down the stairs and disappeared around another corner.

Naomi smiled, all these people, it was comfortable. It was perfect. She went and grabbed some food before heading off to bed.


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**I just thought everyone should know, its hasn't been long since I started this one and this story already has over TWO thousand hits. You make me feel loved.**

**I wanted to add a hi to all those who started watching and reading my story: 4evErG0dzillandAslan, Bambamzing, CallistoRedBird, and eclispex.x .**

**To PieceofWork: Thanks so much! I realized that some of my characters sort of have disappeared a little bit, so they'll be making more appearances, Cat included.**

**To Kali3110: Emily is a most interesting character, she demands to be written. ^-^ Thanks for the review.  
><strong>

**To Firewhisperer: You will get to find out that little gem later on in the story :p Granite girl was kind of random, she may show up more later though.**

**To Bambamzing: Yeah, I realize it was kind of abrupt and not really understandable. Its mostly cause Naomi didn't really understand what was going on either, so as she advances in her powers, things get more detailed and understandable. ^-^ Thanks for the review.**

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><p>Chapter 17<p>

Something collided with her window bringing her to full awakeness. She groaned as she rolled over, her muscles were in pain, their sudden abuse with the power training and the dance class, after such little use in her previous home wasn't the best combination. "Long, hot shower." She muttered and put a hand against her head. There was another thud against the window. She peered over at it.

Against the glass was a pair of white splats. It took her a moment to realize it was snow. Naomi got out of bed as quickly as her sore body would allow and opened the glass door. A small flow of snow laying on the balcony trailed into the room and onto her bare feet. She eeped at the cold but bent down and took two handfuls of the frozen liquid in her hands and smiled, "Lots of snow." There was about a half foot of snow on her balcony and there looked to be more on the ground below.

There was a knock on her door then in walked Cat, "You're awake this time!" The shapeshifter said with a smile. "You have a box out here too." The little girl was in a heavy winter coat, a cap and mittens. She leaned over and picked it up. "Its got your name on it and everything.. I think." Her little pink tongue stuck out between her teeth and her yellow eyes focused on the text written on the box. "N-A-O-M-I. Yep that's you." She held out the box. Smiling at the girl Naomi took the box, it was from Uncle Hank.

"Why are you dressed up for going outside?" Naomi asked as she opened the letter attached to the box.

"Since there's enough snow on the ground Storm thought it would be good for everyone to have a power training session together." Cat began, "We're having a snowball fight where we can use our powers." The girl smiled but also sighed, "There isn't much I can do in a snowball fight though. A kitten isn't very useful."

_Dear Niece, I know its a little late for a Christmas present, so call it a new years gift. _Naomi opened the box and found a second box, this professing to hold a cell phone. She continued to read the letter, Cat was talking about the trouble poor Dragon had with handling snow. _I've paid for the first few months of it, give me a call some time so I don't worry myself into a gray furry beast instead of blue. Uncle Beast._ Naomi smiled again and put the box on the bed.

"If it was me," Naomi began, "I'd have Dragon for defending the fort, he could melt incoming snowballs." She stated, she walked past Cathrine and stood next to her for a moment before putting a hand on her head, "You could be a very helpful member of a team as well, you could probably smell, or see very sneaky enemies and show them to the others." Cat's eyes brightened at the idea. "I'm going to get all cleaned up and then I'll come out and join you and the others alright?"

Cat nodded, "Bye Naomi!" With that the child ran out of the room, Naomi was sure to announce to everyone that she could be helpful in the snowball fight.

Naomi proceeded through the same activities as the previous day, without cutting her hair though. She added to her repertoire reading through the homework for her English class as well as she pulled out a fluffy white coat Curse had suggested for her to get when they were shopping. At first she was sure it would get filthy too fast but looking at it now, it would be excellent camouflage in the snow.

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><p>Storm was standing on the stairs when Naomi came down them, next to the professor was a large jug of hot water and the packets of chocolate. "Sleep well?"<p>

"Yes thanks," Naomi replied, "Cat told me we're up to something fun today?"

"Oh yes, let me explain the rules. You can't leave the school's property, try and not use your powers on other people as much as possible you can do whatever you want to with the snow. Lastly, don't get hurt." Storm stated, "You'll be on Curse's team." Naomi nodded and started to walk away. "I heard from Cat that you can find where people can be best placed." She called to her, Naomi paused, "Its a useful skill."

Naomi blinked, it was a skill? She watched Storm over her shoulder for a moment longer then walked over to Curse. She was drawing shapes in the snow with her fingers, "You look down."

"Oh, Hi Naomi." She smiled, "Its nothing," Curse looked at the group of others who were working on building the fort, "They think I'm too unpredictable to be of any use."

A movement out of the corner of Naomi's eye caught her attention. Someone else was sitting a distance away from the others, he was under a tree, in a black coat with blond hair, his eyes were closed. "Who's that?"

Curse looked over, "Oh, that's Rael. He goes by Black Blade." She stood up straight, "He doesn't "play silly children's games"." She used her fingers to put in the quotes. "He's just a stubborn spoiled kid." She turned back to Naomi. "Anyway, I know I could be helpful if they give me a chance."

"But... didn't you say you can't control it once you give it life?" She reminded her friend.

She sighed and sank into a squat again, "Yeah... but I'm trying to get better at it..."

Naomi looked at the scribbling in the snow, "What were you drawing?"

"I was thinking of making little mini snow golems." Curse stated, "You know to make snowballs for us, but I don't know if that's what they would do."

The shadow manipulator looked at the drawings some more, "Why don't you try telling it what you want it to do before you bring it to life? I mean... no, that would be a little complicated wouldn't it?"

Curse stared at her, "I've never thought of doing that." She immediately began rolling snowballs in her gloved hands and making it into the shape of a small man. Naomi smiled while she worked but then looked back toward the tree, Rael was gone.

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><p><strong>Coming up next: Epic snowball fight! -Pardon if it is sort of terrible, battles aren't my best writing subject at the moment. I think that's why I'm trying to put them in so much. Practice makes perfect after all ^-^<strong>


	18. Chapter 18

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**Wow so many reviews! Almost all of you say your looking forward to the snowball fight, some of you are interested in what exactly Rael's power is with a nickname of Black Blade, some about character growth on Naomi's part, and all of you it seems, cannot wait for an update. Fear not! Here it is!  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 18<p>

It proceeded quickly, Naomi was introduced to the other members of their team, there were twelve members on each team, and apparently there was a guerrilla warfare force in the trees on each side of the field, they were supposedly on the team that they were behind but they would change sides, often. They were also suppose to make sure the rules were followed. Naomi assumed they were the older students then, the ones who had more control of their powers.

"This is Bobbie," she said at the last person, it only added up to eleven including her, "he goes by Iceman," Siren, who was also on their team was taking her around giving introductions, "We're in luck to have him on our team this time around. Though he'll probably stay back in the main fort this time, you know, defensive stuff."

Bobby gave a courtesy smile and nod before returning to what he'd been doing. Ice came off his hands and formed into walls of ice surrounding a bunker they were in the process of building.

"What exactly is the plan for all this?" Naomi asked. On each side of the field there was a massive fort, then scattered and often disguised in the snow were what looked like mini-forts and a few smaller bunkers. Then there was an area of perfectly smooth snow which was odd, not a single footprint was in this snow it looked like a no man's land.

Siren smiled looking out across the area. "After we get everything set up we're getting together at the main fort and we'll pick who will be in what group." Siren began, "There should be three people in the first defense, so out in the bunkers, four in the next line, and two in on defense in the big fort. Everyone else will be runners." Naomi blinked, "Its our version of capture the flag, with snow."

"What's the flag?"

"Not what, who." Siren stated, "Storm gives us one more member, someone who's out in the trees, they walk into the fort and they pick the flag and be their 'marker' basically." She shrugged, "It can be anyone."

Naomi nodded then looked back to Siren, "If you don't mind me asking, why are you named Siren, I mean aren't they watery creatures in mythology that lure sailors and drowned them?" Naomi couldn't deny that she was pretty, her hair was blonde, long and flowed down her back almost like water, her eyes were deep blue and she stood about a head taller than Naomi.

Siren sighed, "The new ones really should just get a pamphlet with pictures, names and powers of all the kids in the school." She put her hands on her hips. "The twins said I was a special kind of psychic, when I sing I can create subliminal messages from my mind into my singing when I want to."

The thought of that actually made the hairs on the back of Naomi's neck stand on end, "So, you can influence people's thoughts, ideas, stuff like that without them knowing from your singing?" Siren nodded, "That sounds dangerous."

"Oh it is," She said with a shrug, "That's why I'm here isn't it? You can go thought shadows to anywhere you want right?"

"As far as I know, I can also make things go through shadows... I don't know if I can do anything else." Naomi stated.

"That could be dangerous if you used it the wrong way too," Siren stated, "Its the reason we're all here, to learn to control our powers, not to let our powers control our lives." With that Siren walked off to see if anyone needed an extra hand.

She heard the sound of winds and ducked slightly when the wind picked up a fraction then died. She turned, at first she thought it was the boy, Archangel, from her English class. Then noticed the feathers were ebony black, not white. She blinked and shook her head, "Are you the other person on our team?"

"Yeah..." He said and pulled a hand through his curiously white hair, "I'm Fallen Angel." He looked her over, "You're Naomi right, new girl?" She nodded, she wanted to ask if he could just fly or if there was something else he could do, he spoke first, "Yes, I fly, not only that but at sound barrier breaking rates."

Naomi smiled sheepishly, "That obvious?"

"You're curious, everyone is when they first get here." He stated walking back toward the fort, "They want to gain the feeling they fit in somewhere. Looks like its starting."

She looked around, the field's were completely empty except the two of them. They hurried back to the fort.

Rael was standing in the center of the other eleven people, he was leaning on what looked like a black spear. "Her." He said simply and pointed to Naomi.

Hart sighed, "And here we were all looking forward to seeing what Naomi could do..." it almost sounded like a pout.

"Its not like I can stop her from helping you." Rael stated with a shrug. "I just have to stay with her."

"Her has a name." Cat snapped at the boy, "That's Naomi."

"She needs a different name." He stated and stood up straight, the spear vanished up into his hand, but they were empty when held out a hand toward her, "Alright, so you're the Flag, Naomi."

Naomi swallowed. "Great..."

There was a thud against the wall of snow and ice surrounding them. "They've already started!" Iceman stated, "Get out there and defend the flag!" They all seemed to vanish around the edges of the fort. Naomi walked around and peered at the once empty field, it became a battleground almost instantly.

"Who's on the other team?" She wondered aloud.

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><p><strong>Ehem, so the real battle begins next chapter.<strong>

**And a quick welcome to all those who I know of who have faved the story and/or myself as a fav author. You're all great: CrashingUpward, VirendraLione, Dawn of Time, Savvyzzzz and ASingleBreath. Welcome to my madness!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**Sorry about the semi-long wait for the update, this is what happens when I pick up a good series of books . and there's also work to blame.**

**Thanks for all the reviews by the way, here is the epicness of the snowball fight! Well the beginning of it.  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 19<p>

Naomi turned around coming nose to collarbone with Rael. She slowly looked up at him and swallowed. "What am I suppose to do as the flag?"

He smirked, "That's the beauty of it, anything you want, I just have to be able to follow you, and if a member of the opposite team grabs you, you have to go with them no fighting it." He took a step back and appraised her. "Then, if a member of your team manages to grab you back from them then you return to the fort. Those are the rules of being the flag."

The hairs on Naomi's neck stood on end, immediately her shadow shot up and enveloped her. A hand swiped at where she'd been, Flicker stood then in shock for a moment then Naomi reappeared behind Rael, a few small crack on her fingertips. Iceman caught sight of him, a snowball left his hand just as the shape of Flicker vanished.

Rael raised an eyebrow at Naomi behind him, "Hmm... this game may actually be worth playing this time." He gave her another look over, "A flag that can protect herself, if you do... that," he waved a hand from where she had been to where she was standing now, "again, you're required to take me with you."

"I've never tried more than just me."

"I believe in learning while working." Was his reply. "Make your move."

Naomi raised an eyebrow at Rael then sighed. She looked over the fort wall and ran for the next nearest pile of unoccupied snow, Rael close behind her.

Balls of snow were whizzing past in every direction Naomi managed to avoid them all as she ducked into the bunker. "Those look like hard throws..."

Rael came in behind her, he dusted off a snowball from his shoulder, "Rune is adding a little oomph to the throws. Less gravity, more speed."

Naomi frowned. "That hardly seems fair."

"You have a member of your team who can make a barrage of snowballs with a wave of his hand." Rael stated. "Storm tries her best to keep things," he ducked to avoid an incoming snowball. "Even."

Something tugged on the edge of Naomi's coat, she looked down at a small round, snow made creature, it had small stones for eyes, it motioned to a pile of six snowballs near her thigh. She looked to Rael's side, there was another one forming a snowball for him. She smiled, Curse had made her golems. She took one of the snow balls and peered over the snowbank. She lobbed the sphere of frozen into the air at a face popping out from the other side of the field. It missed hitting the snow behind them. She ducked herself avoiding an incoming orb. Rael was, in fact, throwing the made snowballs as well.

The air was filled with flying orbs when a light snow began to fall again. Naomi found herself laughing as she was struck in the shoulder by a snowball, it was fun, she couldn't remember the last time she'd enjoyed herself this much.

She felt the hairs on her arm stand up again. The snow golem sensed something as well and grabbed Naomi's ankle, she grabbed Rael's elbow as he released a snow ball. She closed her eyes and the two humans and two snowball making creatures vanished into her shadow. A shape dove down toward then, white wings carrying him then pulled up quickly when she vanished. Several snowballs were thrown at ArchAngel as he pulled up.

They came up in another bunker. Rael's eyes were wide, "A little warning next time! Its unsettling to disappear without warning."

Naomi apologized, "At least it worked." She replied, she could feel where her skin had cracked, across her palms and between her middle fingers; it felt a little odd trying to close her fingers. "How many times have you been the guard for the flag?" She asked while waiting for the next snowball from the golem.

"A few." He replied, he was leaning up against the bunker looking at the trees some distance behind them now, snowballs would occasionally fly out from the trees, some aimed low, some higher. "They normally stay crouched in the main fort, its the furthest from the opponent's fort." He shoved Naomi to the side as a snowball flew in, it collided with the bunker where her neck would of been. "I have to say this will be the first game where the enemy is literally hunting a shadow." He smirked slightly. "Amusing."

There was a blast of heat from somewhere nearby. Rael sighed. "Seems someone convinced Dragon to play along even though Rune's on their side."

"Wouldn't that be really dangerous?"

"Of course." He smiled, "But the world's a dangerous place too isn't it?" He turned and lobbed a snowball into the air. Naomi did the same. As she went to duck again she felt, and saw something. In the snow there was a trail of footprints, they seemed to be appearing by themselves, and for a moment there was a small shadow in them before the next shadow appeared.

"Is there an invisible kid at this school?" She asked curiously. The golems each took hold of their respective charges and Naomi grabbed Rael by the shoulder.

"Yes." The two of them vanished just as the foot prints reached their bunker.

They reappeared at the main base. Naomi fell back against the wall and sunk to her backside panting. "That's a little more complicated..." she whispered. She undid her jacket and closed her eyes.

"Exhausted?" Rael asked, Naomi nodded, "Well you were taking four forms actually, the golems went with us."

No wonder. Naomi thought to herself she could feel the cracks in her skin most of her hands were likely black under the gloves and there were thin cracks running up to her elbows already. A thought struck her she opened her eyes, "Where's Cat?" Someone said she'd last been seen slinking out into the bunkers as a cat, a snow creature on her back. She closed her eyes and felt for the shadows.

Naomi had begun to notice that the more time she spent in people's company she could sense out their shadows and find them, no two shadows were alike. She found Cat near the edge of the snowy open field, the little kitten was still for a moment then began to almost belly crawl out into the open battlefield. Naomi sighed, "I'll go get her."

The shadow of Cat suddenly became longer, and darker around her little paws. Naomi stood and saw a blast of flames, aimed for incoming fire, heading directly for the kitten. Naomi didn't think, she just ran.


	20. Chapter 20

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**Tada! Chapter Twenty, who would of thunk it huh?  
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><p>Chapter 20<p>

"Cat!" Naomi yelled as she ran, she could hear Rael yelling her name as well as someone else yelling for her to stop. She continued to run. The kitten turned to look at her and shifted into a girl, she gave her a curious look almost like she didn't understand what was going on.

Her shadow shot forward but the approaching flames kept it from going to far, it crossed other's shadows. She felt her skin crackling as the shadows were pulled into her own and it became darker, she felt stronger. The more shadows hers touched the darker her's became. She reached the edge of the bunkers, she heard several others starting to yell at Cat and herself. She felt a massive shadow approaching from behind, she dared a glance, it was a wave of snow and ice. Bobbie planned to douse the fire with snow, but that would bury Cat and it was possible it would fail.

She grabbed Cat's arm, she couldn't try and move the two of them the flames could follow them through in the moment she opened it. She didn't know how she'd had her shadow eat the flames before and it looked to be about to lick the two of them into ash. She wrapped herself around Cat and hoped with all that power she felt, something would happen.

Fire and ice collided over them. The field blossomed into steam.

Storm, who had been trying to reach the little girl as well, immediately forced the mist away. Others who had been on the field appeared, all of them unharmed. They were staring at the place where Naomi and Cat had been.

It looked like a black mound in the center of the half burned grass and half snow covered area. Something dark was circling this half bubble.

"Naomi?" Cat's muffled voice came from within the bubble, most breathed a sigh of relief, until the next words sounded filled with panic. "Naomi? Wake up Naomi!"

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><p>It was almost pitch black within the strange bubble, almost. There were pinpoints of light coming from somewhere. Cat looked around nervously and tugged on Naomi's arm again. "I don't like the dark."<p>

The world was hazy, her eyes were open, she could see the little shapeshifter sitting next to her in perfect clarity. Behind her she knew was a shadow of some kind, one of the ones she taken she assumed. She tried to move but couldn't, every muscle seemed too exhausted to even act like they should respond. They didn't even offer the pain of over use, they just refused. She could only stare straight forward.

"Naomi, can we please get out of here?" Cat asked again, "Naomi? Naomi wake up!"

But she was awake, she didn't understand.

Cat's eyes had adjusted to the near complete darkness and saw the dots of light were coming from Naomi's skin. Like her eyes had the first day, the dark parts of Naomi's skin were glittering. She could see that it was continuously spreading though. "Naomi it's alright, there's nothing out there that will hurt me, you saved me we're safe... Right?"

"Cat what's going on in there?" She heard the voice softly, but outside the bubble Rael was yelling.

"Naomi's not moving, and she's all glittery."

Naomi tried to move again still her arms gave no sort of response. Was this how Nightmare felt? Stuck in a motionless form?

"_Thinking about me?"_ Came the voice of said girl. _"Wow its hard to talk to you through all that... what is that? Shadows?"_

I can't move. Naomi though, I think I've trapped Cat and me...

_"First you need to relax. You're not trapped."_ Emily replied.

"Cat can you see anything else?" Storm yelled.

"No! Storm I'm scared."

I'm scaring her. Naomi thought to herself. Her eyes moved very slightly to the shadow behind the child, she could see something, it was hazy in the shadow. It almost looked like... buildings formed completely in black and white.

"_Relax, you've really pushed your limit on your powers, that's all, you tried too much too soon."_

"Ow!" Someone from outside said, it came through like a whisper still, "What is going around that thing?"

"A weapon." Rael's voice was nearly unheard by Cat and Naomi.

Very slowly Naomi managed to close her eyes, she took a deep breath trying to calm her heart, she hadn't noticed how fast it was beating, she hadn't noticed how cold the snow had felt on her face or how sweet that cold felt on her skin. Slowly she curled her fingers then released.

The shadow bubble slowly began to fade, a shade at a time until it was a thin almost transparent shape over the two of them. It popped like a soap bubble, the weapon that rotated around them vanished as well. Cat ran to Storm and threw her arms around her neck and started crying. Naomi rolled her head slowly and lay on her back.

They were all staring at her. Her coat had fallen off when she was running for Cat, her arms were completely black her face was half black and the over half very pale. Naomi herself knew that most of her upper body had become that dark skin beneath her normal skin. She lay there breathing and staring into the sky. "Are we going to keep playing?" She asked after a moment more.

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><p>Naomi sat leaning against the main fort wall for the rest of the game. Though it no longer seemed to be the same game. No one made any further attempts to 'capture' Naomi. Everyone on her own team was looking at her like she may break if touched and there wasn't the same heart in the game as there had been before.<p>

Cat had elected to stay out of the game for the rest.

When the opposing team's 'flag' arrived in their camp's main fort, it was Ivy, Naomi had fallen into unconsciousness in Rael's lap. "She has a fever." Rael stated. Archangel, Rune and Rael carried her into the house. "I have a perfect name for her," Rael said in the short journey. "Reckless."


	21. Chapter 21

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

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><p>Chapter 21<p>

Naomi was laying in every bit of sunlight she could manage, in her room the next morning, Storm had wanted to give her a check over to make sure she wasn't going to die on them. She refused to go back down into the basement, it had no windows and she wanted the sunlight. It wasn't helping her fever.

"Come on Naomi, unlock the door." Hart said, he was leaning against the door. Rune was trying to pick the lock and Rael was leaning on the wall across the hallway shaking his head.

"Reckless I tell you, she never things before acting. We should call her Reckless." Rael said.

"She gets to choose if she wants a different name." Rune said while sliding a second flat object into the door.

"Leave me alone I'm fine." Naomi said. She knew it was a lie, the room was almost swimming around her while she tried to push her bed out of the framed sunlight on the floor. She stumbled and went down. Getting up felt like a hassle, her body started to refuse again. Her eyes closed.

Hart's head raised, "I... I think she's passed out. He annoyed energy just when straight to neutral."

"Cami!" Rune yelled.

After a moment Chameleon came around the corner, "What?" She looked at the three boys, "Honestly? You have nothing better to do than try to be peeping toms at the new girl? Seriously you all have issues."

"Just open the door."

Chameleon shoved Rune to the side and took the tools from his hands. "I don't see what she's got that I don't."

"A soul?" Hart offered. He was glared at.

"It doesn't matter, Cami." Rune stated.

One of the tools came out of the door knob and went under his chin in a threatening manner, "Call me Cami again and I will remove your reason to be designated male." Her hair was a dark red. She returned to concentrating on the lock. It clicked open. "New record. Here, take your toys and leave me out of your perverted lives."

Rael ignored the girl and opened the door. There was a winged form standing over the crumpled shape of Naomi, "You know," Fallen began, "she's got these great things on the other side of the room, they're also doors. You could of gotten someone to fly in and open the door," He looked at Rune coming into the room, "Or had him float up rather than take the time to pick the lock." Naomi groaned in her unconscious state and squirmed trying to escape from his body heat, "She's really warm." He stated while fumbling to keep hold of her.

Blackblade hit his hands together then pulled them apart. Black energy wove into a net between his hands he grabbed the edges, "Then its best not to get her any warmer." He held out the net for Fallen to put the girl into the net, he did so and grabbed the other side, they cradled the girl in the black energy. Rael noticed that even while the sun was repairing the cracks on her skin they were forming in other places, he wondered why but at the same time was more concerned at the sheen of sweat visible even on the black glittery parts of her. "Go get Iceman." He said to the two others, not really caring which of them went, "We're going to need ice," he kicked the bathroom door open and led Fallen in with Naomi between them. "Lots of it."

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><p>Shivering woke her up, it took her a moment to realize it was her own. Naomi went to move, there was the sound of ice crashing against more ice, the room was mostly dark. Of course she could still make out the shape of her bathroom, there was an addition to it though, there was a chair and a person was slumped in the chair as far as she could tell, asleep. Still shivering she began to try and climb out of the ice filled tub.<p>

"You awake?" She froze and looked at the shape. "I'm going to turn on the light." She closed her eyes when it clicked on then opened them again. It was Rael. "Don't try and climb out of there."

"I'm freezing..." Naomi said though chattering teeth. "I'm getting out of here, you shouldn't be in my room anyway."

"You're in a white shirt, you don't want to get out of the water." Rael stated, Naomi looked down then sank into the water again, "And only your outer skin feels cold, you're still running a fever."

"Then give me something for it, don't throw me in an ice bath." She crossed her arms and curled up slightly. "Why are you here anyway?"

Rael sat forward and opened the door. There were four other people asleep on the floor, Rune, Fallen Angel, Curse and Hart. There was a small movement next to Curse. Cat was also there, she was curled up against the other girl. "They've been taking shifts all day to make sure you don't drowned." He stated. "I thought they deserved to sleep." He leaned back again, "Prism was up here earlier, he bent some light in here on you thinking it would help, it didn't do much. Storm and Iceman take turns refilling the ice. Your Uncle's called twice, on your phone, and nearly chartered a flight on a jet to get here."

Naomi blushed, they were all worked up about her. Someone cared about her, "Why, its just a fever."

Rael leaned forward and put a hand on her forehead, "No, its not just a fever. You over worked your powers. Storm thought you'd just go all black skinned if you over used your powers, but when you're inexperienced with you're powers it can have adverse effects on your body, like getting sick." He took his hand off her head, "Its gone down a few degrees, but I suggest you don't move, Reckless."

Sighing Naomi laid back in the tub again, "Do you get sick if you over use your powers?"

"Not anymore." He replied, "Use to when I first came into them though. Even making a spear would leave me winded."

Rune knocked on the opened door, "Glad you're awake," he turned to Rael, "I'm leaving."

"I'm not your parole office." Rael replied, "I could care less."

"Alright," He turned to Naomi, "I'm off, got somewhere to be."

"Don't do anything dumb." She replied.

"Psh, can't make any promises." Then he was gone.

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><p><strong>I thought I'd tell everyone, I love my lurkers (those who read and don't review).<strong>

**Secondly, my birthday is on Monday. ^-^ *breaks out the cookies, cake and icecream***

**And lastly, I'm also leaving on a trip on Monday, so it may be a while before the next update.  
><strong>


	22. Chapter 22

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**It has been three weeks since the last update, and I see from the numbers in my Traffic Stats, you people keep reading this thing. Gosh, I guess I'll have to give you another chapter. Just kidding, I was planning to give an update soon too. Enjoy!  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 22<p>

Over the next few weeks things began to settle into a bit of a pattern. Once Naomi was recovered she started going back to classes, her training with Nightcrawler was intermingled with training with Rael. Since the incident with the snowball fight and the odd revolving weapon around the shield he'd been trying to make her reproduce the effect with little success.

The snow was starting to melt, but Naomi spent most of her days indoors. It was easier to avoid getting into the now periodic slush fights. She walked down the stairs toward the basement, a text from Rael her reason for going down. Not that she didn't go into the lower levels quite often, she'd developed a slight habit of going down to talk with Emily, as well as have a sort of training to strengthen her mental defenses. The comatose psychic often said she was getting better, she didn't know how it was possible but she was gaining more confidence in herself.

She dialed her uncle as she walked, it went to his voice mail. "Hey, just calling for the weekly check in. Nothing all that exiting happening on my end, school's still fun for me. Rael's getting more aggressive to try and make me attack with shadows like I did before, it isn't happening yet. I guess you're off doing something amazing to try and help mutants everywhere. Kay, I'll call again later, Bye Uncle Hank." She clicked off the phone and opened the door downstairs. She paused at hearing a conversation down the hall.

"...be here in a few hours, I'm begging you Storm I need to be somewhere else." It was Hart. Naomi walked a few steps closer and saw Storm and he walking toward one of the rooms that was having a class.

"Alright, I'll tell Sparky you're out for the day, just make sure to take someone else with you. Take Rune, I'm sure the two of you could keep yourselves out of trouble." Storm replied.

Naomi thought back to the conversation with Emily, Sparky had a thing for Hart. So, why was he avoiding her? The conversation continued.

"Rune snuck out sometime last night." Hart lowered his voice, "He said it was something to do with something you asked him to do? Well, he wasn't here this morning."

Storm paused, "He's keeping an eye on things in the Shadow Brotherhood for me, I would think he could get back before morning. He's almost eighteen but I worry about that boy..."

Naomi lost some of the conversation, she used a shadow to listen through.

"...Rumor that Recharge was in town." Hart was saying, "It isn't a good time for anyone, especially Rune to be out and about."

She blinked, who was Recharge? She stopped listening as the conversation went back to him getting out of the house before Sparky's arrival. She went down stairs and into the danger room.

Rael was firing off a long succession of black arrows from his energy bow. Each arrow struck a moving target even while his movements were minimal. "You're late...er than usual." The last target fell to the dark energy. "What kept you?"

"I over heard something Hart was saying to Storm." Naomi stated as she put her bag in one of the gaps between the door and the room. "He wanted out of the house cause,"

"Sparky's coming home." Rael said with a too happy of a smile from him. "She's a little over enthusiastic, her aura is a little overwhelming for our resident empath." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, "Just don't mention you've spent some time with Hart while she was gone, she's very easily jealous." He smirked, "That also means Feathers should be home."

"Feathers?"

"She's a shapeshifter, she turns into a hawk. She's Sparky's older sister, and my girlfriend." Rael replied, still smiling. "It doesn't sound like that riveting of a conversation to make you late."

"Do you know a Recharge?" Naomi asked, her shadow pooled around her feet expecting Rael's usual attack.

Rael didn't move, for a moment he didn't speak, slowly, stiffly he turned toward Naomi. "Pray that you never, ever meet Recharge."

"Why is there something wrong with her, who is she?"

"Dragon's sister. She's... addictive." Rael looked rather uncomfortable. "Her name shouldn't be Recharge, it should be Cocaine or Ritalin... or Backfire."

"Huh?" Naomi tilted her head to the side.

"Her power, every time she touches you it makes you feel stronger, more powerful. And for mutants... you are more powerful. She's steroids for mutants, but after a while it fades off," He ran a hand through his hair, "Its pretty cool the first few times, then you start to crave being around her and if she's not there you feel... powerless."

"Sounds like you know a lot about her." Naomi said softly. "But I still don't understand."

Rael held up a finger then walked up to the control room, after a moment all the lights but one went out. He came back down to her. "Alright go cast your shadow and take in all of these shadows."

She blinked but let her shadow out it began to collect shadows, even in that much darkness there were multiple shadows roaming in the dark, she could feel them, but couldn't see them. Naomi closed her eyes against this mid-light.

"Dragon, Recharge and I grew up in the same neighborhood." Rael began to speak again while she let her shadow collect others. She could feel her skin splitting at her fingertips. "They didn't think she was a mutant at first, no one knew what she could do. So we would all play together when we were kids. Their parents started to pick up on it when Dragon and I would get jittery and, well, really angry when Recharge wasn't around. One day she told me to go steal something from a store while Dragon made a distraction, I did it without question because I wanted to stay near her, let her hold my hand and give me little kid kisses on the cheek." Naomi shudder at the thought of that amount of manipulation. "Alright," Rael said, "I think you got them all right? I mean they all shivered when you did."

Naomi nodded, "I've got them, now what?"

"Break that lightbulb with them." Rael ordered, "Just hit it with them."

"I don't know how..."

"Just do it, think about what you want to do and do it." Rael said annoyed.

She took a deep breath and forced the shadows into the light. What Rael saw looked like the tail of some massive creature coming to a point, it swung up over the lightbulb and struck it. Glass shattered and they were plunged into darkness.

All the shadows had vanished, Naomi felt the skin crack all the way up to her shoulders in spider web thin cracks.

"How do you feel?" He asked in the darkness.

"Fine why do you..." Then she felt it, there was an emptiness where that power had been along with the fear in her belly of being stuck in a pitch black room. "Why would anyone want that?" Her hands shook slightly from the lack of even her own shadow that she'd grown use to having control of. It had become part of who she was in that moment she'd control them all.

Rael shrugged, Naomi could see it after all in this total darkness. "Ask Rune, he dated her for a while. I'm guessing that he's off getting high on her again, or that's what Hart's worried about if he brought her up."

They were silent for a moment, "How about some training then?" Rael walked up to the room and turned on all the lights but the one she'd broken.

* * *

><p>Her phone went off when she got out from the basement, a text message, from Curse. She wanted to show Naomi her newest achievement with her powers, she was in one of the dance rooms. Naomi smiled and started in that direction when her phone shocked her. She dropped it and looked at the device it hadn't ever done that before.<p>

"I heard from a very reliable source that you've been spending a lot of time with _my_ Hart."


	23. Chapter 23

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**Yay for shout outs!**

**To Kali3110: She's quite the live-wire, if you catch my drift :p. Ta da! An update!**

**To black silver rose: Yes, teen emotions, they can drive people to do things, stupid things. Thanks for the compliment.  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 23<p>

Sparks jumped from the walls toward Naomi. She countered with raised shadows to keep from being shocked, "I didn't do anything wrong! I'm just his friend!" Her phone was going haywire where it lay on the floor while the young, blond curly haired and blue eyed girl advanced on Naomi.

"A likely story!" Her voice was sharp and bitter sounding. "If I ever see or even hear about you talking to _my_ Hart again I'll fry you like, like, like a french fry!" She yelled loudly, a large bolt of electricity surged from her, through the floor and up Naomi's legs. Her limbs went all tingly and she fell to her knees. "Do you understand?"

"Tori, that's no way to treat Naomi!" Storm came to stand between the other girl and Naomi, "You'll apologize now."

She crossed her arms and humphed, the electricity died down to a few stray sparks in the girl's hair. "Fine, I'm sorry for shocking you." Naomi could see the girl wasn't even the least bit sorry. She glared at Naomi then flipped her hair and walked away. The curls were pulled up into pigtails while another half of the hair hung down her back.

Naomi sat there on the floor, "Wait!" Sparky paused, Storm looked down at the girl wondering if she was a glutton for punishment. "Who told you that I was spending time with Hart?"

She frowned again, "Like I would tell you." She spun her head again and vanished around the corner.

Storm dropped down to Naomi's level on the floor. "Are you alright?"

"Her power... it went through my defenses." Naomi stated she started rubbing her legs to get the feeling back into them.

"When you tried to defend her power, energy paralyzed your shadow so it wouldn't have to worry about it." Storm helped her to her feet. Storm sighed, "I suggest you keep your distance from Tori and Hart until he can sort it out with her."

"Does Hart like all this attention from her?" Naomi asked and leaned on the wall while her legs filled with pins and needles.

"I'm not sure," Storm replied. "Some days I've seen the two of them in each others company having a good time. Other days Hart just runs away from her." Storm shook her head, "They are an odd pair." She looked at the girl concerned, "Are you sure you'll alright?"

She looked down at her shadow, "Lets check." She raised an arm, the shadow copied as it normally should, she looked across the room at a lamp sitting on a small table that had miraculously survived Sparky. She pushed her arm out toward the lamp, her shadow shot off the ground and struck the light bulb, the tinkling of glass on the floor and wooden table was the reply as Naomi's shadow returned to resting in a circle around her. "Yeah, seems like everything's alright. Sorry I'll clean that up."

"No trouble." Storm replied, she bent and picked up the fried cellphone.

"Man, Uncle Hank gave me that..." Naomi sighed and went to take the electronic device from Storm.

"Circuit should be able to fix it." The headmaster said, "He's our resident techie, as he calls himself. He has a great talent for reviving things Sparky breaks." Storm offered to take it to him.

"Where's he at?" Naomi asked, "I'll take it myself."

"The room above the garage, he likes his privacy, and doesn't like people to touch his things." Storm gave her the phone. "Good luck." With that she walked away to find another of the student Naomi assumed. She headed outside and walked toward the garage. One of the garage doors started to open as she walked toward it. A car honked, she turned to see Hart pulling up in a black vehicle, she gave a half smiled and waved as he pulled in to park, she walked into the garage.

"Hey Naomi, what's shaking?" He asked, then looked her aura over, "Cautious of something?"

"Of you," Naomi stated, he blinked and stared in shock, "and Sparky."

"Oh Naomi I'm so sorry. She didn't hurt you did she? I just knew she'd be... overly energetic today. Why did she go after you?" Hart asked all in one breath.

"She paralyzed my legs for a few seconds, and my shadow, yes she is energetic, and very jealous when it comes to you evidently. She said someone told her you've been spending a lot of time with me."

Hart sighed, "It was probably Chameleon. You know how much she loves to make chaos in the house." He ran a hand through his hair. "I'll go find her and talk to her, maybe she'll... chill a little."

"If not you can always ask Bobbie to put her on ice for a few hours." Naomi stated and walked toward the stairs she noticed along the back wall, "I'll see you later maybe."

Hart waved vaguely over his shoulder and walked toward the house. Naomi went up the stairs and knocked on the door.

"It's open." Came the reply within, "Just watch where you step."

She slowly opened the door, the first thing she noticed was the sound. The room buzzed with the sounds of devices. She looked at the ground to see several small things jittering across the floor and taking off in many different direction. "Hello?" She called, slightly confused.

"Walk in just a little further." Came the reply. She did so, she saw the back of someone bent over a long table, his black hair spiked up and hands busy with something. Naomi stood there waiting, finally he turned around, he pulled a pair of glasses up from his eyes. "You must be Naomi, that girl who did the weird thing to the lawn." She blinked, "I saw it though the window." He replied before she asked. "What can I do you for?"

Naomi was still a little surprised at his eyes, from a distance they would seem normal, but as she got closer they appeared to adjust like the aperture of a camera, "I had a run in with Sparky..." she began.

"Ah, the enemy to all electronic devices," He held out a hand, "What she fry?" Naomi handed him the phone, "That is a shame, this is one of the newer ones right?" Naomi nodded, she watched as he pulled it apart then saw his eyes shifting, the 'iris' of them became smaller. "Hmm..."

"So you can see everything in it?"

"Huh?" He looked up again his eyes readjusting, "Oh, my power. The eyes just help, I find the flow of energy in stuff and can reopen damaged areas. I also have a knack for hacking, creating electronic devices and hot-wiring cars. The last came from my previous life of crime and car jacking." He said it all with a sense of pride to it. He returned to looking at the phone, "Hmm... she really did a number on your phone." He looked up again, "I can have it fixed in an hour."

"That's all it takes?"

He grinned and leaned back in his wheeling chair, "What can I say, I'm just that good." He picked up an odd looking tool, dropped the glasses back over his eyes and started working on the phone, "You can show yourself out and I'll bring you your phone when I'm done. As long as you aren't around Sparky; my eyes are hard enough to keep in working order with out her trying to short them out."

"I'll probably be in one of the dance halls with Curse."

He looked at her over his shoulder, "Really? I've always liked what I've heard about that girl, she can do what I can in a sense, give life to previously inanimate objects. Never met her really, I don't get out of this room much. I look forward to it then."

Naomi did as she'd been told and showed herself out, careful to not step on the little skittering things.

"Getting to know new people?" Naomi looked up from watching her steps down from Circuit's room to see a very tired, and rather beat up looking Rune sitting up against one of the walls. "That's always good, I suppose."


	24. Chapter 24

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**I think I'm on a roll, two chapters in one day, woot! Sorry for those waiting for the update for the other fic I'm writing :( I'm a little uninspired for it at the moment. I'm trying though, I promise!  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 24<p>

"What happened to you?" Naomi asked while pulling out the first aid kit in the kitchen.

"Nothing really," He hissed as she wiped a wet rag over a gash on his face."Just a suggestion to you, never date someone who likes to take revenge on exes when they feel like it."

"Who?" She had an idea, but wondered all the same.

"Oh come on no one can keep a secret in this house for very long. What have you heard about her?" Rune stated, "You don't have to do this you know."

"You helped me when I was sick, its the least I can do." She replied and began cleaning blood from his split knuckles. "I was told her name was Recharge, and she likes to manipulate people because she's got a druggy touch."

"Yeah well," he sounded defensive, then paused and nodded, "Yeah that pretty much sums her up." He flinched as the rough cloth ran across an open wound. "She had a few of her new addicts beat the shit out of me for breaking up with her, oh, four years ago. Ouch!" He pulled back as she began applying other liquids to the injuries.

"Don't be a big baby." She replied, "Where you out looking for her?"

He was quite, he didn't speak again until she'd finished wrapping the knuckles of one hand and had begun working on what looked like road burns with gravel bits lodged into the skin. "Yes, and no." He kept his eyes to the floor, "She had me once Naomi, I was her puppet on a string, and it wasn't just that she had me drugged with her power. I'd been drawn to her even before then, it was... strange... the power boost was just a boon if I could be around her." He looked at his hands then up at someone who walked through the room, gave a glance in at him sitting on the counter then started getting herself something to snack on, then left the way they'd come. "I guess a part of me will always be looking for that drug she gives," he shrugged then hissed out through his teeth again when Naomi pulled out a piece of rock from his skin. "Once an addict always one. Withdrawal's always a bitch though."

Chameleon walked in and paused at the sight of the two of them.

Rune smirked, "Speak of the devil, did you just hear me call for you?"

She rolled her currently gray eyes, her hair was purple at the moment, "Ha ha ha, very funny doofus." She looked to Naomi, "Curse was looking for you in the dance room. It looks like she's getting antsy about you not answering your phone."

"Sparky fried my phone." Naomi replied.

Her hair turned pink and her eyes lighted with secret pleasure, "Really, well that really is unfortunate. I guess you're just going to have to buy a new one. Will your oh so, wealthy uncle be pampering his niece again with a new toy."

"Do you always have to act so joyful about torturing another human being?" Rune asked. Naomi had a sneaky suspicion Chameleon was the one who said something to Sparky.

"It makes my day more interesting." Cameleon reached into the fridge and took out a bottle of soda, "Ta then, maybe you're parent will come find you and take you home." She vanished out of the room.

Naomi finished tying more gauze around Rune arm, she pulled it tight, "I really don't like her."

"I'll tell you a secret, no one really does." He jumped down from the counter and winced, "I'll go down stairs for the ribs I think." She noticed the bruising starting to form across his eyes and some swelling to his left jaw. "Thanks though."

"So what kind of mutants attacked you for Recharge?" Naomi asked before he could limp off on a sprained ankle.

"One could quicksilver parts of his body, not all of him at the same time, but parts. It was weird when he made it into blades off his arms and stuff." Rune replied leaning on the wall, "The other one... she could phase through solid objects like Shadowcat, but unlike Kitty, I could feel her hand or whatever going through. I'm pretty sure she broke a rib, from the inside." He left the room, "Oh," he came back in. "There's a party going on at the high school this weekend, we all usually manage to get in, posing as friends of students. Want to go?"

Naomi blinked, "Go with you?" Rune nodded, "I've never been to a party."

"So that's a yes?" Rune asked, "Go meet up with Curse, I'm sure she'll help you with the pending party." Then he vanished, Naomi walked out the door in time to see him go down the stairs.

She pushed her hair back behind her ear then went off to meet Curse.

* * *

><p>Curse, of course, already knew about the party. "Rune asked you on a date?" The girl squealed with joy, her creation, a knee-high cloth creature that looked similar to a cat tilted its head to the side and stared at her. "That's so cool!"<p>

"I don't know if its really a date though." Naomi stated, a second cat, this one slightly smaller was sitting on her lap, this one was made of fuzzier fabric. While neither of them made any sounds they did act and react almost like normal cats; they did seem to understand words better though. "Isn't everyone going?"

"Mostly just people who attend the high school and some of their friends." Curse replied. "Didn't Storm tell you? Some of the kids from here that blend in better and have more control go to the high school for some of their classes, and to get use to being around normal people."

Naomi could vaguely remember that conversation. "Is it some kind of special party?"

"Usually they're dances."

"I can only do some ballet."

Curse scoffed, "Its not like professional dances or even ballroom. Most of the time they just throw their hands up in the air and move to the beat, or jump up and down. Here I'll show you." She grabbed both of her creation by the naps of their necks, they both fell into limp dolls again. She tucked them into one of the corners and walked over to the music system in the room. Curse tuned it to a popular radio station. Pounding rhythms, thrumming beats and words filled the room. "Today will be a lesson in modern styles of dance." Curse said with a smile as she helped Naomi to her feet.

They were in the midst of some mash-pit style jumps when the door opened. Circuit walked in and blinked. They both paused then broke into a fit of giggles, Curse went and turned down the music. "Sorry, it isn't much of a mash-pit with two people. I'm Curse."

"Circuit." He replied and shook her hand. "I'm just bringing Naomi back her phone. Its good as new." He caught sight of the dolls, he raised an eyebrow at them.

"Oh," Curse blushed, "Those are mine, I can,"

"I know what you can do." Circuit cut in, "My power's similar, just more, electronic based."

"Really?" Curse replied. Naomi smiled as she was forgotten and the two of them began conversing. She walked out the side door and into one of the smaller rooms. She connected her phone to the music system and stretched out as music she'd begun collecting on her phone-songs she'd heard on the radio that she'd liked- began to play. Her shadow spread out and began shifting to the beat, after a moment Naomi closed her eyes and did the same.

Her shadow remained in a constant flux around her, shifting and changing as she moved. Almost dancing with her, in the calm state she didn't notice the little cracking on her hands.


	25. Chapter 25

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**To firewhisperer: Oh just you wait and see what happens at the dance. :p Oh, and l really enjoy getting all your reviews for each chapter I write. *gives a shiny award*  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 25<p>

Naomi was lucky, she didn't run into Sparky again for a few days. She saw her in passing; always in the company of Hart, who at times looked almost in pain to be around her as she clung to his arm and babbled on endlessly about something she'd done during her break, or how much she'd missed him. It was odd to see them, she was a great deal shorter than Hart and acted like a kid sister most of the time. Naomi wondered if that was how Hart thought of her.

Rune had vanished again almost as soon as he had appeared again. Storm had had ArchAngel help heal the more major injuries, including what looked like a few knife wounds across his lower back. Then he'd gone back to his room, which he then disappeared from. Cat was sitting on the edge of Naomi's bed when she came back up to her room. "Storm said she's called in some help to find Rune." Naomi blinked then nodded. She didn't understand why Cat was telling her this stuff.

"I'm sure he's fine, Cat," she walked over and rubbed her head, "He probably had something he needed to finish."

The little girl sniffled. "What if he doesn't come back?" Naomi saw the beginning of tears in her eyes.

Naomi sat down next to her, Cat laid her head on her lap. "If he doesn't come back I'll punish him something good when I see him next." Naomi replied and stroked her hair softly. She already was planning what she'd do first if he didn't come back to the house. Curse had taken her out shopping for new clothes the day before, apparently it was a custom to buy new outfits for every event attended. If Rune didn't show up for this dance she didn't know what she'd do with the new clothes. "How about we go for a walk?"

Cat sniffed again and wiped her nose on her sleeve. "Okay." She hopped off the bed and took Naomi's hand, the two of them walked down the stairs and into the backyard. Siren was sitting on the back steps with a camera in her hands. Cat immediately looked interested in what Siren was doing. "Can you take a picture of me?" She asked, releasing Naomi's hand and sitting next to Siren.

Siren smiled over at the little girl, "Sure, I'm kind of sick of landscapes." She looked up at Naomi, "Mind if I take your picture too?"

"Not at all." The three of them walked off a short distance and Siren began snapping pictures. They mostly consisted of Cat acting silly in one fashion or another, Naomi mostly watched though occasionally Siren would snap a shot of her. Naomi smiled as Cat shifted and curled up in the flowers. "How long have you done photography?" She asked as Siren took shots of the kitten.

"A few years," she replied, "Its an artistic outlet that can't be effected by my powers." She looked up at Naomi, "So choir was out, we're suppose to be like everyone else. I always find it hard to be like them when you're special, am I right?" She looked back through the camera, "Ivy does most of the gardening though, she's got pretty good control of her powers so she can get away with it."

Naomi felt shadow separate from the house's shadow on the stairs from the back yard, one she'd never sensed before. She closed her eyes and tried to make out who or what it was. She followed its movement over to the side of the house, "Something's here, I've never seen them before." She stated.

Siren looked over her shoulder, "Probably another teacher. You can't know everyone Naomi." She said with a shrug. "I mean, did you know I was out here?"

"Yes, I felt your shadow." Naomi replied, "I don't know how it works but... I guess its cause everyone's shadows are different so I recognize them once my shadow's stolen them once... does it makes sense?"

Siren shook her head and took another picture then stood, "Sounds weird, but what's not at this school." She smiled, "Sorry about what Sparky did to you," Naomi blinked, "Word travels fast in a small place. I'm sure her trainer tried to get the energy out of her, she's been falling asleep in her classes after training."

"Who trains her?" Naomi asked, she was still watching the strange shadow in the back of her mind.

"Guy named Shockwave." She replied, "He's pretty cute if you ask me." Siren noticed Naomi was only half listening. "Look, if it bugs you that much I'll watch Cat, you go check out your mystery shadow and then come back and try and listen to me, alright?" She was laughing slightly as she said it.

Naomi looked at Cat popping her head up and down out of wildflowers and chasing insects that took off, "You sure?" Siren waved a hand and went back to her picture taking. Naomi walked off in the direction of the errant shadow.

He was a big guy with his hair in a sort of V shape off the top, she could tell that from the shadow. She walked around the side of the house and paused when she saw the person leaning over what looked like a grave stone and putting what she guessed were flowers on it. "I can smell ya kid, no use hidin."

Naomi stepped out from behind the tree, she'd never been to this part of the yard, she thought it had all been plants. She looked at the three grave markers, _Professor Xavier, Jean Gray, Scott Summers_. She wondered who they'd been. The school was called Xavier's, Naomi guessed he'd been the founder of the school. She looked back at the ill-shaven man in a dark shirt, a vest and jeans. "Who are you?"

He raised an eyebrow, "New student?" He didn't wait for her reply, "Just call me Wolverine."

* * *

><p><strong>Hahaha, the arrival of another wonderful classic X-men character. ^-^ This is gonna be fun.<br>**


	26. Chapter 26

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**So, I've noticed that you've noticed that I don't do much with the older X-men's involvement and the kids don't get much punishments for what they do. I'm going to work on that, and I think Logan's just the guy to do it, don't you? :p  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 26<p>

Looking over the man sitting on the couch across from her she could defiantly see how Rune was dragged back to the school. He defiantly looked fierce enough to take on a bear, and win. Naomi had heard bit and pieces about this infamous Wolverine from Nightcrawler, Storm, Bobbie and some of the other kids who'd seen him before. She'd been told his power was regeneration, and that he had claws. She kept glancing at his hands wondering exactly what they meant by that.

Logan noticed her glances, the three adamantium claws jumped from under his skin. Naomi slid back in her chair when they appeared. She looked up at Wolverine with wide eyes, he smirked, "What?"

"Do you have to scare the new students every time you come back?" Storm asked coming into the room. "Logan, this is Naomi McCoy."

He raised an eyebrow at her and slid the claws away, "She doesn't look like Fuz-faces's kid."

"I'm his niece." Naomi corrected. "I'm his brother's daughter."

"Didn't know he had a brother, what's he look like, a purple lemur?" He asked.

Naomi blinked, "He doesn't have powers. He's human."

"Oh," Logan shrugged, he turned to Storm, "So what you want me down here for?"

"Well," Storm sat on the arm of the couch, "First, we've got more students than the teachers can handle. I was hoping you could help with the discipline in the school." He laughed slightly and went to reply but Storm continued, "Also, Rune's gotten himself into a spot again."

"I'm not in charge of the kid, he should take care of himself." He replied, "and I don't teach."

"You won't be teaching," Storm replied, "You just have to be yourself... and make sure they don't use their powers against each other, if they do you decide the punishment."

He raised an eyebrow, "I don't like kids, I may just kill 'em." Storm stared him down, "I'm not planning on being her long Storm." She smirked but kept watching him, he sighed, "I guess I don't get a choice."

"Good," Storm said then turned to Naomi, "Naomi, do you think you could find Rune?"

"Then why do you need me?" Logan said at the same time Naomi said "Me?"

"I overheard some of what you said to Siren, you said you could sense shadows you were familiar with, could you find Rune's shadow?" Storm asked she didn't reply to Wolverine.

"I guess I could try..." Naomi replied. She took a calming breath, sat cross-legged in the chair, and closed her eyes, she felt her skin crack from the edges of her eyes across her temples, the thin cracks began growing wider as she looked.

"Does that always happen to her?" Logan asked, Storm nodded. "Huh." He shrugged and watched Naomi.

Her shadow pooled around her then she vanished.

Logan sat up then walked over to the couch, "Where'd she go?"

Storm blinked, "I'm not sure... I hope she didn't come out of Rune's shadow..."

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><p>Naomi heard wind. She opened her glittering black eyes to a scenery that was vaguely familiar; almost something from a dream. The ground was gray and the expanse of it was massive, in all directions it was flat ground. She watched though, she wasn't alone.<p>

A black shape moved across the surface, like a bubble of oil sliding over glass. She stood and stepped away from it. The sound of whispers came from the black bulge. She tried to listen closer. "Where'd she go?" It sounded like Wolverine. Naomi stumbled back a few steps, where was she?

She answered her own question somehow knowing it was the answer, she was on the other side of the shadows. This was between where she'd gone into her shadow and when she came out from one. She looked around in surprise, she'd almost expected more. The sky was gray, the ground was another shade of gray and there was nothing there. Naomi guessed that because she had wanted to find a shadow that she didn't know where it was she was going to have to find it herself.

Looking down at her own shadow pooled at her feet she raised an eyebrow, "Well, you stay here so I can find my way back." She then walked away, leaving her shadow where she had told it to remain.

As she walked there were more black bubbles on the ground, some were in the air. She could recognize some of them by the feel she got from them. The further she walked the less she could identify. Naomi swallowed, she'd walked outside of the school's boundaries and was in town. "Where are you Rune..." she wondered.

There was a dull ache in her side, as she continued to walk the pain began to increase and spread. She grimaced and put a hand to her side when it became a sharp pain. She stopped moving and looked, there was nothing there but the pain continued.

She noticed her skin, Naomi had tried not to look at herself as much as possible here, she had a fear of what she would look like. She was right. All of her skin was black with the same strange glitter as her eyes always had. She bit her lip and turned her hands over in front of her, there wasn't a speck of normal skin on her arms or any other part she could see. The girl stomped her foot and put her hands down to her sides, "It's just an appearance, it isn't who you are..." she whispered then continued to walk.

Naomi walked until she couldn't stand the pain in her side. She curled up in a ball on the gray ground, "How do I get back now..."

It felt like a rubber band being snapped. She gasped and opened her eyes, she was looking at Logan and Storm again, the pain was gone, her skin looked normal except for a few more cracks showing the black flesh below the tanned. Storm asked if she was alright. Slowly she nodded. "I couldn't find him... I think he's really far away." Naomi's phone went off, it was a text message from Rune, "It's him." she said surprised, "He says to go to the party at the high school and he'll meet me there." She read.

"See, the kid's fine, your worried about nothin' Storm." Logan said, "Do I get a room to stay in while I'm here or do I sleep on the couch."

Storm sighed and led Wolverine out of the room to take him to a room.

Naomi wondered if she should of told them the rest of the message. _I'll meet you a the high school for the party, DON'T come alone, but don't bring Hart. _She closed the message and bit her lip.

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><p><strong>Next Chapter, the school dance! Woot woot! Get your groove on!<strong>_  
><em>


	27. Chapter 27

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

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><p>Chapter 27<p>

Wolverine found himself put up to being the chaperon and driving a van filled with kids to a school dance. He didn't know how long before he took the head off Dragon and Ivy.

"Stop touching me you slimy lizard!" Ivy complained.

"You didn't have to come green child, I'm sure the world saw enough of your face when you were outside, the day you were born." Dragon replied.

He looked in the rear view mirror, "Hey, shut it." They fell silent for a moment then continued. Logan nearly growled, he glanced over at Naomi sitting in the front seat. "You look sick."

Naomi stopped looking out the window and looked toward Logan, "I've never been to a dance, and what if Rune isn't there?"

"Rune is a lot of things, but he's a sucker for a cute girl." Naomi blushed, "It what gets him in trouble." Wolverine replied, "He'll be there." She went back to looking out the window, "There's something else?"

She looked back at the six others in the car, Hart and Sparky; who caught her glance and grabbed Hart's arm tightly and slid closer to him. She was in a loose yellow shirt with blue and green metallic designs on it and skinny jeans, her hair was in loose curls around her face. Dragon and Ivy, still bickering both gladly heading to meet up with their respective dates at the dance. Dragon was in a long sleeve red shirt covering most of his scaly skin and black slacks. Ivy had pulled back her hair into a pony tail, she was in a simple v-neck green tee, jeans and black high heels. Naomi didn't understand how she would dance in those stilettos. Curse sat next to Circuit in the closest chairs. Circuit was in about the same close she'd last seen him in, a loose black t-shirt and jeans, his hair was still messed up. Curse was in a shirt that's color changed depending on how the light hit it, loose jeans and had in her hands a large bag that looked like alligator skin.

Curse gave a small smiled, Naomi had told her about the text message and how she thought there would probably be trouble at the dance. Curse had brought a few things, just in case things did go south. Naomi tried to smile back.

"I think somethings going to happen, and it isn't going to be good." Naomi said softly.

Logan kept his eyes on the road, "No chance, not while I'm on... babysitting duty." He hated the sound of that, he looked in the rear view mirror, "Looks like a few more decided to come."

Naomi looked back, it was one of the cars from the school garage. She couldn't quite make out their faces from the distance. "You're coming too, right Emily?" she said softly.

"_Of course, someone's got to be able to keep an eye on everything."_ Her voice was feint, "_Don't let Wolverine get lost though, the further away you go the less I'll be able to help."_

Logan pulled into the school parking lot and came to a stop, "There, everyone out before the last bit of patience I have runs out." The kids exited the vehicle. Wolverine stood beside the driver's door, "If anything does, go wrong, yell. I'm nearby." Naomi nodded in his direction. The street lights made it hard to focus on anything.

The second car pulled up behind them, Rael came out of the car, walked around to the side and opened the passenger's door. He took the young woman's hand and helped her from the vehicle. She had dark brown hair cut to her shoulders in soft ringlets, a red shirt with a low cut back, black pants and high heels. Sparky sighed and rolled her eyes. "You always ruin my fun sis."

"I'll try to keep from sight then." Feather's voice was soft and silky on the ears. Without the heels she would likely be about to Rael's nose. She wrapped an arm around Rael's waist and smiled. "You must be Reckless, Rael's told me a lot about you."

Again, to Naomi she wondered how some of these siblings could actually be related.

"Are we going inside or are we going to stand out here all night?" Another person came from the car, from the voice she could tell it was Fallen Angel but his shadow was different, where were his wings?

She opened her mouth to ask when Emily supplied the answer. "_Its a specially designed harness under his shirt and coat, it keeps his wings from being too obvious."_ Naomi nodded, "_You sure you'll be alright, from what I can see from you, you can't see right now."_

"I know..." she said softly, then to everyone else, "I'm going even if the rest of you don't."

"Good thing, I was worried you weren't gonna show." Rune came from the doors and stood among the others. "Guys... Logan."

"Rune, you better have a good reason." Logan stated.

He nodded, "Don't I always."

"No, you don't." Hart replied, "What's going on?"

"The Brotherhood are up to something, its going down here. Tonight." Rune replied, "I thought it would be too suspicious if I brought in teachers, so it's up to us to keep them under control." He sighed, Naomi guessed someone gave him a skeptical look. "I know I've been off the last few days, I swear I'm on the level with all of you. Pyro is already in there, so is Blink, a teleporter, and Recoil, he makes things blow up." He looked over at the door, "Lets just go inside and you can see for yourself. Wolverine, just stick around outside?"

"Yeah right. Leave something just to a bunch of kids." He slammed the door to the car and walked toward the school. "See you inside."

Rune sighed and ran a hand through his hair, he looked down at Naomi. "Shall we?" The others all headed inside.

She nodded still looking away from the light, "Is it like this inside too?"

Rune cursed under his breath, "You can't see can you?"

"I can't focus." She replied shortly. "Everything's a blur."

"I shouldn't of asked you then, I'm sorry. I swear I'll keep you safe." Rune took her hand and led her inside.

The first portion of the school was in darkness, the small amounts of moonlight came in though a few of the back doors, Naomi could see fine, until they entered the gym.

The music pulsed and vibrated the floor. Lights flashed sporadically all around the room sending half-light everywhere in the building. She stumbled slightly bumping into Rune, that wasn't the worse part. The shadows were just as jumpy, they shifted and were and weren't all at the same time. Her own shadow could hardly manage to keep with her as they walked. "Rune I can't be here." She said her head starting to ache. The lights cut for a moment before they turned into bright second flashes for several minutes. She immediately closed her eyes and grabbed Rune tighter. "Seriously, I don't think I'll stay sane."

"Awww, that's such a pity." She felt a pair of fingers run along the edge of her quarter-length sleeve, it felt someone had run glass along her skin. "And we were just going to start the fun, weren't we Rune?"

Rune quickly pulled Naomi behind him. Without even being able to see her Naomi could tell this was Recharge.

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><p><strong>Dun dun duuuuunnnnn! Tune in next chapter to see how the dance goes... to hell in a hand basket that is.<br>**


	28. Chapter 28

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**Shout outs!**

**To Kali3110: Hence the Dun dun Duuuunnnn! at the bottom of the last chapter. Just sit back and enjoy the ride! Weee!**

**To Hamo Hero: Welcome to my story, thanks for the review and for the complement. I shall try to continue working as good as I always do. I hope to get another chapter up soon.  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 28<p>

Rune's hold on Naomi tightened significantly. Naomi tried to focus on the darkness created by his back to her, she gave up and just closed them. The jumping shadows made her head ache, she couldn't see anything, or sense anything in this chaos. How could anyone stand it all? Along her shoulder blades her skin cracked while she fought to keep her own shadow from striking out at anyone. One false strike and she could be in deeper trouble that she'd already found herself.

"Rune, you wound me. Picking some little girl over me?" Recharge was saying, she sounded close. "Why don't you just come with me and I'll remind you how to party."

Naomi felt her ears popping and something akin to being pushed away from Rune, however he held her close to his back. "Don't touch me." Rune said through gritted teeth.

Recharge frowned and put a hand on her hip. "Really? This is how its going to be, and Pyro thought he could trust you." She sighed and shrugged. "I guess I'll just have to go make... new friends." She smiled darkly and headed out onto the dance floor, two other mutants followed her closely.

Rune's grip lessened. "Is she gone?" Naomi asked, her voice just distinguishable over the the pound of the music.

"Yeah..." he sighed, "Is it bad to say I almost followed her?"

"No, cause you said almost." She grabbed his hand, "You have to find Wolverine. We need help."

Rune sighed, "First, I'm not leaving you here alone. Secondly,"

"Who said I'm staying? Rune, this place is making me nauseous." Naomi interrupted, she'd never been on a boat or out at sea but she supposed that this was what being sea sick was like. With all the flux in the shadows it was starting to feel like the ground was moving under her feet.

"Secondly," Rune continued, "The others don't know what's happening. We need to figure out what we're going to do, especially if Recharge turns the student body against us all."

"She can do that?" Naomi asked, daring to open an eye slightly to look up at the blur that was his face. He nodded, she nodded in response. "Well, there's Emily. She could tell Wolverine to stick close to the gym. You can go tell the others what's up... and I'm going to sit right here..." She sank to the ground and covered her face with her hands, "God Rune, I think I'm going to loose my mind, or worse. Control."

He looked down at her shadow, it was shooting out in sharp shapes around her, his own shadow had vanished, absorbed into her own. He felt a little off not seeing his own shadow flashing around with the lights. Occasionally he noticed edges of the shadows around her peel off the walls then return in the shift of lights. He dropped down to her level, "How about we get you over to one of the chairs before you implode." He took hold of her arm.

A point of her shadow shot off and slashed across his hand. He pulled back immediately, a thin line of blood began to bubble on the back of his hand. Naomi looked up despite the annoyance on her eyes and began to apologize. "Its agitated, it knows I'm uncomfortable so its trying to protect me. I'm so sorry."

He shook his head. "Come on, I'm getting you out of here, Rael and the others'll be fine for a few minutes." He held out his hand this time, she grabbed at about his wrist and he helped her to her feet. "I should be the one apologizing." He wrapped an arm around her, she laid her aching head on his shoulder.

Someone walked past them on their way to the door causing Rune to curse after he was gone. "What?" Naomi asked. He shook his head.

They reached the doors and found them locked, and chained shut.

"Ladies and Gents, welcome to the evening's greatest part of the entertainment!" It was Recharge, Rune looked back and saw her standing on the stage.

"Damn it..." He put Naomi in the corner between the doors and the wall, "Sit here, don't move, if anyone comes near you except one of us... defend yourself."

Oh, yeah, and it was so easy to distinguish one from the others. She mentally disappoved of his idea, but nodded and let him go. "Emily, can you tell..."

"She told me already." Wolverine's voice came from the other side of the doors, "How's your first dance?" He asked sarcastically.

"Peachy." She replied, "Actually I was going to ask her if she could tell who would be coming at me." There were some lights over head and while it did diminish the vision impairment, the nearby jumping shadows weren't helping her.

The metallic claws came through the door and cut around the door handle, the metal pieces clattered to the floor. The door swung out, Logan stepped in beside her. "Problem solved."

"_I've always liked problem solvers."_ Emily said to Naomi, "_I told Rune that Logan was watching you."_

"There are some uninvited guests to this party," Recharge was talking again, there was a large commotion of boos, "I know right? So, lets give a big _un_welcome to the mutant kids from the school down the street!"

Spotlights came on somewhere in the gym, the other lights stopped, Naomi's head stopped pounding and she quickly stood, "Are we just going to stand here?"

"Just wait," Logan said.

"What I would just love from all of you, is for you to show these trespassers just what we do to unwanted company." Recharge said. The crowd began moving almost as one group toward the others.

Naomi walked into the darkness, Logan grabbed her arm, "She a psychic or something?"

She shook her head, "Just manipulative. Her power is an addictive touch, it makes you stronger for a while, then it takes it away and makes you feel powerless I guess. So she uses it to get what she wants, you do what she wants, you get to be more powerful."

_"Sounds like a variation on psychic to me."_ Emily put in. "_Maybe if you guard yourself well enough it won't effect you."_

It was worth a shot, "Try not to hurt anyone, they're just brainwashed kids." Naomi said to Logan.

He scoffed and walked past her.

"I have one problem Emily." She whispered, "She already touched me... I think that was why I was overly aware of everything..." Naomi looked down at her shadow, she could still see it even in the darkness, it seemed to have taken in an even darker shade of black. Naomi sighed, "I guess I should use it while I got it." She stepped onto her shadow it drifted into a collection at her feet then what looked like waves of shadow began to wrap defensively around her, her skin didn't crack anywhere. In Naomi's mind, it felt good, it felt right.

Rune pushed away several of the students, all the while giving up ground, the spotlight still overhead continued to follow them. He heard Curse squeal, he looked over to see her struggling to keep back several large guys, likely from the football team. He floated her up above the crowd and out of reach.

Curse reached into her bag and pulled out what looked like needles. She released them, mid-fall they changed into tiny silver looking stick figures, they clattered to the ground then stood and began stabbing their sharp little arms into the ankles and shoes of the students. They began jumping and yelling, stomping their feet to squash the pin men only to step on more sharp things. Curse fluttered herself toward the wall and grabbed a curtain. "Put me down Rune! I hate heights!" She yelled over the beating music that came back on the sound system.

"You sure know how to pick 'em kid." Logan said shoving one of the students away from him while approaching Rune. "On the crazy scale of one to ten," He grunted when another of the football players tried to tackle him. Wolverine flipped him over his shoulder, the boy hit the ground and lay groaning, "That one," He pointed to the stage, "should be in the psycho-ward._"_

Rune pushed back a pair of girls from him and got over to Logan, "Where's Naomi?" He yelled, "Nightmare said you were watching her."

One by one the spotlights began to shatter, there were screams from students as glass tingled down on their heads. Naomi saw a flashlight turn on in the room where the spotlights had been coming from. The moonlight filtered in through one door making shadows cast long. She went though her shadow and came up in the shadow cast by the flashlight.

The one holding the light source dropped it when she appeared behind the other. "Did I scare you?"

The second one turned around, flaming red hair came from his head, she recognized him. From his smirk, Pyro remembered the small encounter at the chocolate shop._  
><em>


	29. Chapter 29

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**This chapter is brought to you by... Final Destination by Within Temptation. (I was listening to it repeatedly while writing it cause it just fit so well)**

** Shout outs!**

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><p>Chapter 29<p>

Fire licked up at her immediately, her shadows countered wrapping Pyro's arm in darkness and consuming fire before it could come from the device in his sleeve. He fired with the other hand, the shadows did what they had on their first encounter, she pulled up a hand and the flames disappeared into the darkness.

"You're Rune's new little girlfriend right?" Pyro said with a smirk. "Fancy trick you got, how fast do you think you are though?"

Naomi smiled, "Fast enough." She moved away from another blast of fire. She kept moving away from each shot, he laughed asking if all she could do was dodge. She glanced down at her shadow, with each breath of fire a shadow appeared for a moment, like a canibal her shadow consumed the momentary shadows adding to her strength.

She spread her hands and pulled up, two long arms of shadows pulled up behind her, the flashlight showed the sharp ends split into jagged sharp fingers. Two more wrapped around Pyro's ankles and pushed his feet out from under him. Flames shot up on to the ceiling beams, they crackled into orange and yellow flames. "Is that you're only trick?" Naomi asked, she shoved a hand forward in a fist, the shadow hand imitated her own hand and shot out and hit the ground where Pyro had been laying, he rolled up to his feet.

He grabbed at the fire on the beams, two balls of flames rolled down and into his hands, "I have to say, your tricks pretty good." He let the fire roll out in long tongues toward her, "Mine's better."

The flashes of flames caught Rael's eye as he used his bow to pin down another student against the wall, "Could you go check that out Feathers?" He asked calmly, and formed a sheild between himself with the black energy and several charging students, they began to pound on the black energy.

"It will be just a second." Feather hit one of the girls in the face then shifted. Her arms becoming wings and shrinking into a hawk, she took off immediately and flew toward the tech booth.

"Take this!" Circuit yelled above the crowed, he tossed a chip into the air, Feathers caught it in her talons, "Put it on the main board if you can!" He returned to the fight at hand, from his back came what looked like wires wrapped around themselves, they swung out knocking down several students. Sparky was paralizing anyone who stepped too close to her or Hart.

Vines broke through windows while Ivy used them to pick up students and restrain them.

Naomi's shadows moved to swallow the flames, Pyro shifted them making them weave around the darkness she controlled. Another portion of the shadow worked to collect the newly cast shadows. Naomi smirked and wrapped herself in a cocoon of shadows. Pyro had the fire circle around the cocoon.

"Give up? One move out of that thing and you're fried!" He taunted.

"And if I'm not in it?" Naomi replied from behind him she swung out with a fist, the shadow turned into a single sharp blade it cut across his arms, severing the connection from the flame device. She sent the shadow up and wrapped around the flaming beam when the shadows pulled away the section of flaming beam had vanished. "You can't make the flames yourself can you?" She said with a smile.

Pyro still had flames in his hands he laughed, "God, I love Recharge's powers, you've been touched, you're over confidant in your own powers. He sent out a stream of fire into the gym, it shot past Feathers and hit the ground near the others, "Think your fast enough to stop that?" He replied, the floor caught to flames and began to spread around everyone.

Naomi went to jump through her shadow, Pyro grabbed her arm and he was pulled along.

She stopped them in-between. She kicked him off her. "I could just leave you here." She stated.

Pyro looked her over, there were many shadows pulsating and wavering around her black skinned form, with white hair and white eyes. He smirked, "I have a proposition for you." Naomi scoffed and turned to leave, the shadow opened for her. "I'll make Recharge stop, and let everyone else leave, if you come with us."

The shadow manipulator nearly missed a step, she turned around, "Why would you do that? I'm nothing special."

"True, but we're after bigger fish, bait is always needed." Pyro stated.

She swung out with a shadow, it sliced the air and across Pyro's cheek, he flinched away from it and put a hand to the fresh cut, "I won't play your games, whatever they are." She turned again, through the shadow she saw flames crawling up curtains, students running around screaming, Ivy's plants were burning, Curse's pin men were slowing as they grew hot and eventually stopped moving. The fire alarm should of gone off by now, the sprinkler system should of been on, but it wasn't.

"I had Recoil sabotage the fire alarm system." Pyro stated behind her as she watched. Feathers and Fallen Angel were surrounded by the licking flames, "Its a pity that the whole school is gonna burn and its all your fault. I could put it out, but I have no reason to." He said with a laugh.

Naomi gritted her teeth, the shadows shot out and wrapped around Pyro, they drew him in toward her. "Fine."

The flames began to decrease then extinguish themselves. Logan looked around and noticed the small gathering of the Brotherhood on the stage, Recharge was smiling, she whistled and everyone looked toward her. "Recharge says, you all have fifteen minutes to leave the school before they can attack again."

"What's going on Rachel!" Dragon yelled over at her, "First you attack then you stop what's your problem!"

Pyro moved to the side revealing Naomi standing between Recoil and Blink, "We've got what we've come for."

There was a cacophony of them calling her name, Rael called her Reckless. "Let her go!" Rune yelled, the already unstable school shook with the extra gravity placed on it in his anger. "I'm what you want right? Let her go!"

Recharge walked back and wrapped an arm around Naomi, she shuddered and fell to her knees. "I found out something fun Rune, I can give, and I can take away." She smiled, "And I don't want you anymore."

Blink grabbed hold of everyone, in a crackle of power they were all gone.

The building shuddered again, pieces falling into what was left of the students. Rune gritted his teeth and turned to the others, "We're getting Naomi back, right now." He stormed out of the school, a bubble of extreme pressure surrounded him pushing them back, the door frame even bent out.


	30. Chapter 30

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**Wow, thirty chapters, and I'm no where near done with all the ideas I've got for this bad boy. Woot! Thanks for all the reviews, and the favs.**

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><p>Chapter 30<p>

Naomi was curled up in a pitch black room. There were no windows, there was a small amount of light twinkling in through the bottom of the door, but her shadow was no where to be seen. She felt so drained, her body trembled on occasion. Her skin had cracked along what felt like all of her veins in her body when Recharge had sapped her.

She closed her eyes tightly and curled up tighter. Looked like she was right back where she'd started. She wondered who they were trying to draw out, Recharge had said it wasn't Rune they were after. Maybe that was to put them off center as to why they took her. It could be Beast, he'd probably do anything to get her back from this Shadow Brotherhood.

"Are you there Emily?" She whispered. There was no reply. She was alone. The silence was only broken by the footsteps outside the door, and the occasional angry mutter from Pyro. Naomi kept expecting the door to fly open and see the shadow of her father standing over her, his voice trickled back hauntingly into her subconscious, berating her for her stupidity, throwing things at her while telling her that none of it would of happened if she was normal.

"She cut clean through those pipes." Recharge stated then giggled, Naomi half listened since there wasn't anything else to do, "You sure you don't just want to keep her? She seems pretty strong even without my help."

"No, not that we don't want strong recruits she seemed pretty attached to the X-kids." He sighed, there was a clatter of metal on floor, "Magneto could fix this in no time." They fell quite for a moment, "They should show up pretty soon. From the look on your ex's face he was pissed, don't know who will come with him though."

"Good," Recharge said in a huff, "Should I dose her, just in case?" There was too much happy in her voice at the idea.

"I haven't heard her move since we got back." Pyro said, "She's talked to herself a few times, but nothing else."

"Can I play with her then?" Recharge's voice sounded like she was grinning.

Naomi shuddered at the thought, Pyro told her damaged bait didn't work very well. She put her hands out in front of her and began to walk them finger to finger up. In her mind singing the nursery rhyme 'The itsy bitsy Spider.' There was no shadow cast but as she watched the wall a very pale outline of an arachnid began to form, she grimaced as she felt the skin split wider all over her body. She kept going until she let her hands fall to the ground, a pale gray spider about the size of her palm crawled from the wall and into her open palm. It's head tilted to the side watching her.

A tear ran down onto the floor. "I'm at fault, I thought I was stronger than I use to be. I'm not. I'm Reckless." She whispered.

The door opened, the spider scuttled away to hide in the darkness. "What was that little princess?" Recharge was standing in the door way, she tilted her head to the side. She smirked, "Look Pyro, she doesn't even have a shadow except for that little gray outline around her." She made a face, "Eww, look at her skin it looks like she's broken already."

"No, that's what she really looks like," Pyro stated, Naomi could see him fiddling with the fire making machine again, "The normal looking stuff is a personal defense I guess. Her skin's all that black color, her hair's white too."

Recharge fluffed her red hair and pushed it over her shoulder, "Not even close to Rune's type, why is he so interested in her," She nudged Naomi with the toe of her boot, Naomi flinched. "Probably just caught him on a day he wasn't sane."

Laying on the floor she gritted her teeth, "You're the one who's not sane." She muttered, "I don't even think Rune ever was interested in you."

Recharge grabbed her by the hair and pulled her up into to her knees, Naomi didn't make a sound, the other girl's gloved hand slapped her hard across the face, "I dare you to say that again, I'll drain you dry of whatever energy you have." Pyro stood and grabbed hold of Recharge's free arm.

Naomi grabbed the wrist pulling at her hair with her hands, "You think that scares me?" She locked eyes with the girl. To Recharge's surprise they were calm and held no anger, nothing, they were perfectly neutral. She slapped her again. Naomi laughed, "You're weak."

A fist collided with Naomi's jaw, the hand in her hair was torn free as she went back from the blow. She rolled over once, her eyes were watering while her jaw ached. Recharged walked toward her again, Pyro grabbed her and pulled her out of the room. "No, we need her to be alive remember?"

"I don't give a damn! No one calls me weak and gets away with it!" She kicked and struggled while Pyro closed the door putting Naomi into the darkness again. "Reckless." Naomi said, she was actually starting to like the sound of it for a name, it did describe her perfectly.

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><p>As soon as Logan had stopped the car Rune had gone into the garage and gotten on one of the motorcycles. Curse ran out and stood eagle spread before him, "I know you want to go get Naomi, but we've got to think this through, we don't even know where they went Rune."<p>

Rune started the bike, "I know exactly where they went."

"Mind sharing that with the rest of the class?" Storm came out and stood next to Curse, "What happened?"

Rune gritted his teeth and went to swerve around them. There was the sound of released air, he turned, Logan stood back up while the back tire let out the last of its air, "Huh, a flat, who would of guessed." He looked to Storm, "Pyro and some of the other Brotherhood decided to crash the party, they took Naomi, said something to the extent she's bait for someone, or something."

The bike's engine cut out while Storm dialed on her phone, Rune put his head against the handlebars, "Its my fault."

Fallen climbed out of the other car and looked at the others, "So, we're just standing here? Cool, I'm sure Naomi's going to be great."

"Don't be stupid," Sparky stated, "We have to go get her!" Everyone, especially Hart, looked at her curiously, "What? If anyone is going to beat up on her its going to be me." She crossed her arms stubbornly. "Besides, Hart's her friend and he'd be sad if she died."

Storm closed her phone, "Curt went to pick up Hank, Logan could you get ArchAngel and Prism," She turned to the others, "The rest of you get inside and go to bed."

Rune laughed, "Yeah right, I'm going with you."

Rael cleared his throat, "I am with Rune on this matter, I think getting Reckless back is more important than a few hours of sleep."

Ivy shook her head, "I for one am going to bed. I'm pretty sure that we'll just get in the way of the teachers." Feathers agreed, saying she'd likely be little help.

Sparky tried to make a point that she could be help but Hart covered her mouth, "I'll stay, so will she, and Curse too."

Curse immediately began scavenging though her bag, she produced the little doll she always had with her. "Take this, with you. She can get into all sorts of places, I'll make sure she listens to you and follow orders." She handed it to Rune as ArchAngel and Prism came around into the garage with Logan. The doll curtsied to Rune, who then tucked it into his sleeve.

Logan raised an eyebrow, "Let 'em come, let 'em learn what a real fight's like."

Storm shook her head, "Fine, Rune, Rael you stay behind us."

"Emily," Rune said suddenly, "Can you find Naomi?"

"_Too far away._" Came the reply

Rune nodded, "Then I'm right." they looked at him, "They're at the docks, there's an abandoned building they've been staying in."

Storm ushered the others indoors. There was a sound and exhaling of smoke, Beast and Nightcrawler stood between Rael and Storm.

"What's going on, Curt said something happened to Naomi." Beast asked.


	31. Chapter 31

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**Shout outs!**

**To Kali3110: That's a good thing for me! If you feel the desire to kill one of my characters that just means that she's just so realistic and believable... right? Or that she's just that evil-ish. Sparky has her moments of goodness, she just feels very, VERY deeply and that gets really annoying to our favorite empath because its very over powering to be around her.**

**To firewhisperer: Yep, in the time she's been away from her family Naomi has quite the backbone to those who would hurt her. We're so proud of her. ^-^ Is this what you thought the fight would be like? lol.  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 31<p>

Wings silently passed through the air over the harbor. ArchAngel watched for movement anywhere on the docks. It seemed almost deathly still. He tapped the com device's mic. "I don't see anyone, or anything. Are you sure this is the place Rune?"

The reply was almost instant, "Yes I know where we are going! I've been working within the Shadow Brotherhood for months, and before that for a few years I was with them alright? Don't question me!"

"Alright, alright. Sheesh, if that is what liking a girl does to a guy I hope I never even get interested in girls..." He muttered. "There are lights on in warehouse four-oh-twelve, I can see people moving around in there." He silently flew closer to the building, "Want me to count how many?"

"No."

"Yes."

The replies came at the same time, Beast cleared his throat. "See if you can discover where they are holding Naomi, Warren."

"Roger." He dove closer and landed on the roof, "You know Fallen would of been better for this, he blends in the dark."

"Thanks for the vote, I thought I'd shadow you anyway." Fallen Angel landed next to him. He winked, "I've always believed that more eyes are a good thing."

Warren smiled, "Fallen's here."

"We heard," Logan said, "Stop chatting and do your job."

Storm and the others sat in a nondescript car, some patiently, others very impatiently. Prism shifted nervously in his seat next to Rael who was staring out the window looking at the sky. "It should be dawn in another hour or so."

Nightcrawler was sitting next to Beast in the back with Rune between the two of them. Rune was flexing his hands back and forth between fists, his jaw set in annoyance, he wanted out of the car, he already planned to rip a new one for Pyro. Beast kept a hand on the young man's shoulder.

Wolverine was in the passenger's seat and Storm in the driver's seat. The communication device was static for a moment before Fallen Angel spoke.

"Most of the windows are boarded up, but I can see people sitting at a table playing cards on the second floor. Third floor was empty, all the lights off." He whispered. "There's a fire escape on one of the walls, you could climb up it and get into the third floor, catch them by surprise." He stepped out onto it, his foot fall sounded like a tap on the metal. "I'm not sure about condition of it though."

"Three options then, " Storm began looking back at everyone. "The fire escape and possibly get the drop on them, or the front door and make it clear that we've arrived."

"And option three?" Rune asked.

"Curt teleports us to the third floor and we may, or may not have surprise on our side."

Rael turned his attention into the car, "If we go with that one, may I suggest a distraction to assist our infiltration?"

* * *

><p>She sat against the wall rubbing her bruised jaw. The spider had become darker, and there were several other ones she'd made skittering around in the darkness. Her own shadow was a few shades darker as well, she tried to make it lift off the ground, it tried but only succeeded in doing a wave across the ground. What she really needed was a few hours rest and some sunbathing.<p>

There were foot falls outside, she shooed the spiders into the corners and leaned back against the wall. The handle turned, in the back of her mind she was still expecting her father to walk into the room. Again she was wrong, but to her relief it wasn't Recharge. Pyro squatted down before her, he smirked, "You have a visitor, he's later than we expected, but late's better than never, right?"

Her stomach fell slightly, "You were after Rune, aren't you. Why?"

Pyro sighed, "Well, Recharge isn't interested in him, but an associate of ours is _very_ interested in his powers." Pyro stood, "Think of it, his power is gravity and pressure, imagine if he became strong enough to alter the pull of the earth on something like a star or even the moon. He could also cause a massive earthquake by applying pressure to a fault line." Pyro sighed, "He plays down his power because he knows he's dangerous to everyone. If they knew what he could do then if they were smart they'd be afraid of him."

She laughed and looked up into one of the corners, the spider moved down into Pyro's shadow blending in perfectly, the young man didn't notice the new addition. "Rune wouldn't do that for anyone, he doesn't want to hurt people."

The building shook slightly. Pyro grinned, "Are you sure about that? He's rather desperate to get you back I'd say." He stood and walked out, "After we negotiate the exchange I'll have someone come get you." He closed the door, taking with him Naomi's personal message to anyone else who was there. She knew Rune wouldn't come alone.

The spider crawled within Pyro's shadow until he turned the corner, it skittered up the wall and hid in another shadow. Where it divided into several hundred smaller black spiders. One by one they made a thin trail along the upper edge of the wall and into one of the rooms. Once within the dark room they combined again and went out the window. It sat motionless on the board of the window then crawled up to the third floor. It glanced within as the building trembled and groaned again, in that same moment there was a crack, hidden decently by the groans of the building, and the others were there. It crawled inside, it was hardly visible within the darkness. The arachnid nibbled on Rael's pant leg.

A black sword came down and pointed at the spider, it neatly turned flat against the floor, but all the same shuddered in fear. "Gimme a light." Rael said softly. "A soft one." Prism bent a gentle beam of moonlight in and revealed the silent messenger. Rael chuckled, "Reckless is here somewhere." He bent down, the spider skittered away slightly, "Well where is she?"

* * *

><p>Rune gritted his teeth as Pyro came out of the building, "You're alone? I would of thought you'd bring backup of some kind."<p>

"This only involves me, right?"

"Yes, well you and the girl."

"Where is she?" Rune demanded.

Pyro opened his old lighter and flicked on the flame, then closed it again. "She's safe, for now."

The ear piece crackled slightly, "We've got a guide to her," Beast said, "She's quite the ingenues girl."

Rune didn't let his relief show. "So you're looking for a trade, me for her right?" The dock groaned under the pressure he was exerting from his anger.

The other shrugged and flicked the lighter open again, "I may just keep you both." He pulled the flames from the lighter and shot a ball of flame at Rune. He moved away from it only to have it curve back toward him again. "She's an amazing power herself, have you seen what she really looks like yet? How about that world when she goes into shadows?" With each question the flames curved toward Rune as he moved.

Rune sent a wave of pressure at the flames they curved in the opposite direction and into the water. He then dropped the pressure into the water, the liquid was displaced and splashed across the deck. "You're tricker that Dragon, but I beat him every time, you'll be no different."

* * *

><p>Naomi was surprised when the door opened again, the spider couldn't of shown them where she was so quickly. She cringed at the face of Recharge standing over her, "No one calls me weak and gets away with it," She stated, "and Pyro's not here to protect you this time."<p>

She smirked and laughed, "I don't need protection," she waved a hand slightly, "Haven't you heard, I'm Reckless, I can take care of myself!" She stood. The shadows began to shift and crawl, they even sounded like spiders as they turned into a wave of thousands. Most of Naomi's skin was black now, she ached from the exertion of splitting the spiders into such small things in such great concentration. "Try and touch me, I dare you." She waved a hand and the insects came up from the ground. Recharge stumbled back several steps and hit the wall.

* * *

><p><strong>he he he... bugs, keep Recharge at a distance right? Who will the others encounter before finding Naomi? Yoooooou'll just have to wait for the next chapter :p la di da.<strong>


	32. Chapter 32

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**Ah, I love it, the first day of the month and already 123 hits. I love y'all who love my literature.  
><strong>

**Just a little something I'd like to tell you all, if you don't get a shout out in the next chapter that you've reviewed, you'll likely get a PM from me saying thanks and replying to the review, sometimes I just forget to put them in, and other times they come after I've posted the chapter. I like to show the love to my readers.**

**To Kali3110: It had to be spiders, cause I, like yourself have arachnophobia, so in my eyes, spiders are one of the scariest things in existence.**

**To Firewhisperer: Bwahahahahahaha! Spiders are scary to me, so it just had to make my skin crawl to make your skin crawl.**

**To Hamo Hero: Time for epic battles indeed. As for the spiders, see above responses for my reasons.  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 32<p>

Recoil was juggling several small balls, each of them glowing when they reached the highest point, when they reached his hand they would stop their glow and turn black again. He'd gotten good at this, he'd almost lost a hand once though, but he liked playing with his power. He caught them all in his hand then tossed them out the window into the water. They blew up when they hit the water. He paused and glanced out the window, it was strangely overcast. He leaned out the window further.

Something grabbed his ankles, he cried out as he was lifted off his feet and dangled out the window. He ended up looking inside at a large hairy blue thing. "Blink! Blink! They're here, they're on the-" Something black jumped out and put itself inside his mouth. He gagged feeling eight legs clattering inside his mouth.

"Now, you're going to tell us where they're keeping Naomi, or you're going for a swim." Beast said simply, he watched while Recoil tried to eject the shadow spider from his mouth, he made a face, "Can someone make it stop that?"

"Do you know where they're keeping Naomi?" Rael asked, Recoil nodded profusely the spider crawled out and sat on his chin.

"What the hell!" Recoil yelled, "Blink!"

There was a pop of energy, Prism spun and avoided a high kick from Blink. The boy stood with his hands in his pockets. He blew a large pink bubble until it popped then smiled and spoke. "Number twelve Recoil."

Recoil ignored the skittering of the spider across his face and pulled himself forward enough to slam his hands against the window frame, Beast, surprised by his movement couldn't prevent the contact. The frame glowed then became a cloud of splinters. They all stumbled away from the blast while Beast released the boy.

Blink vanished, a short moment later he returned with Recoil. "The one you're looking for is down one floor. Of course everyone's likely heard that you're here now." Blink stated with a wicked smirk. The two of them charged the group, Recoil producing more marbles and Blink flickering from one location to another creating a blurred image of himself.

Nightcrawler intercepted the other teleporter and forcefully brought the boy with him through one of his own teleportations. They fell onto the roof, Blink pulled Nightcrawler into one of his own teleports. Each jump gave only a moment's appearance of how the fight of fists was going, Nightcrawler had the upper hand most of the time.

Recoil tossed the bombs into the group before taking off for the stairs. Rael took off after him once the smoke from the explosions cleared. Beast followed with Logan close behind.

Rael just managed to avoid another set of marbles when a blade of liquid metal came toward him. He brought up a black sword in his hand blocking it, so he thought, when it melded around the black energy and grew toward him. Rael ducked and rolled away from the mutant. "Get that kid! I'll keep this one busy!" Rael said and charged, surprising the mutant, he raised his hands and the quicksilver morphed into a metallic shield. Rael formed the same. At the collision the quicksilver gave enough to let the black energy strike the others hands. The metal began to wrap around to grab at Rael, while Beast and Logan reached the stairs and ran down.

* * *

><p>"Fallen, ArchAngel, get in there and help the others." Storm said through the com-link. She sat at a distance, hidden and watching Rune avoid the head of a flaming serpent that had risen from Pyro's hands. She looked up at the sky, her eyes clouded over while the clouds began to darken. There was a single flash of lightning before rain began pouring from the sky, the flames hissed and sizzled from the moisture.<p>

"So, you're not alone!" Pyro called to Rune and shot a second snake around to the other side of Rune.

Rune caught flames in a bubble of a pressure differential, he pulled and extinguished the fire, "You're got your friends inside, why shouldn't I?" He stated then reached out and pushed a wave of gravity around him. The flames wavered and Pyro was pushed back several feet.

From within the building someone screamed. Rune's attention went to the building, Pyro lashed out and struck a long licking burn down Rune's arm. He stumbled away and gritted his teeth, nearly gagging on the scent of burnt flesh. "They're allies, not friends." Pyro said with a chuckle.

Rune looked at the windows again on the second floor another one went from light to completely blacked out. He hoped everyone was alright.

* * *

><p>Recharge retreated more as the spiders began crawling up her body, Naomi smiled and brought up a hand from her side. The normal looking skin had all cracked and vanished she twisted her hand slightly. The arachnids fused together into long, thin, black cord like bands. They bound around Recharge's legs bringing her to the floor.<p>

She screamed, her voice was cut short by more bindings around her wrists crawling up around her lips. Naomi leaned down over her. "You really are weak." She whispered. Naomi's shadow pulled up behind her, it looked like vertical static with a human shape, gaps in the shadow moving and shifting around in it and a shifting in colors from a dark gray to a ebony black. "I wonder if I can ransom you, like you were going to ransom me." Her shadow stepped around Naomi and grabbed the cords in one hand and pulled Recharge to her feet, "Let's see shall we?"

Naomi, her shadow and Recharge in tow began searching for the way to the next floor. Each room they tried she'd break the lights in if it wasn't the way out. Recharge continued to struggle against the cords, grabbing at them with her bare hands, nothing happened, she screamed against the bindings, her power wasn't working against the shadows she couldn't reach Naomi no matter her struggles.

She tried to keep breathing calmly. She was nearly at her limit and she knew it. Reckless as this is... she smiled to herself at her thought, I have to get out of here. Naomi paused sensing familiar crash in the next room from the floor above. She opened the door to find Fallen and ArchAngel, in a heap, each groaned and worked to regain their feet.

"Hi boys." Naomi said surprised.

They both looked at her in shock. "Storm we've found her." Fallen began, then leaned to the side to see her captive, "She's got Recharge all tied up." He said surprised.

An explosion above made the boys flinch away, Naomi looked up to see her uncle's hairy back several inches from the hole. She stepped backwards through her shadow and vanished, appearing before Recoil.

The boy stumbled back at her sudden appearance. Logan wrapped an arm around the kid's neck, "That's enough from you bub." He thumped him on the head and Recoil was unconscious. "You just attract trouble."

Naomi shrugged. "Its been a long day, can we go home yet?" She asked.

"Not quite," Beast said, Fallen and ArchAngel joining them once more, "Nightcrawler's still somewhere fighting the other teleporter, Rael's fighting one floor up and Rune's outside engaged with Pyro." He looked her over, "You look different Naomi."

She smiled lightly, "Thanks, confidence feels good."

Fallen cleared his throat, "I say we get what we came for," he said pointedly at Naomi, "get back to the car and wait for the others."


	33. Chapter 33

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**P.S if anyone noticed that the building suddenly shifted from three floors to four floors you get a gold star. Secondly, there should of been four floors to begin with, my bad.**

**I'm soooo sorry that its taken me so long to update. There was a wedding, not mine, a cousin of mines and we had sooo much to do for it. Now that that's over there is the impending DOOM brought on by the coming of school. I'll still try and update, but seriously, I need to be good with school.**

** Love all of my readers and reviewers!  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter 33<p>

Rune avoided another ball of flame and gave another shove of gravity in Pyro's direction. He wondered how long it was going to take them to find her before he could finish this fight. "Storm, we've found her." He heard over the ear piece. It was his cue. Rune pushed him hard. Pyro slid across the ground and slid past the doorway and into the building. He hit against the opposite wall knocking the breathe out of him.

The gravity continued to press him into the wall while Rune walked toward him, Pyro tried to flip open the lighter. Rune jerked his head to the side and the lighter compressed itself into a ball while dripping out lighter fluid. "Struggle, please give me a reason to squash you." He pressed harder on his chest. Pyro gritted his teeth and tried to keep air in his lungs. "Do you want to know how I beat Dragon all those times?" He asked while glancing around for others, "Dragon has a temper, he runs out of flame pretty quick when I get on his bad side. You, you're trickier with your fire but you need something else to make fire or you can't do anything." Rune stopped several steps away from him. "I could of beat you a while ago, the others just needed more time." He winked, "You won't ever win Pyro."

Pyro laughed as best he could managed, "Sure... dilute yourself." His head pushed back harder into the wall it cracked.

* * *

><p>Naomi shivered slightly, "Could someone do something about Recharge?"<p>

"You have her pretty well in hand." Fallen said and kicked at the restrained girl. Recharge glared.

"Not for long." She replied, "I've been using my power for a while, I don't want to end up sick again."

Prism shrugged, "I think you should be fine," she looked at him curiously, "I've noticed something about your powers, the few times I've gotten to see them at work. They're shadows; there's a new moon tonight."

"So?" Logan asked, he sniffed the air and looked down the hall. "Rael's bleedin'."

Beast looked out the window at the glimmering of stars, there was no moon. "I believe he's talking about how it is the earth's shadow crossing over the moon, so perhaps it increases your powers." Beast looked back at Naomi, her skin was at about the same glitter as the stars overhead. Naomi looked down at Recharge.

"Regardless," she stated, "Plus, I'm going to help Rael." She headed for the door, hoping her uncle and Prism were right. "Come help me Prism?" She smiled over her shoulder, "I could use some light."

Logan walked over to Recharge and did the same to her as he had down with Recoil, she fell limp in his arm, the shadows then withdrew from around her and crawled up around Naomi into what looked like a water lily blooming around her feet. Prism grinned and ran out with her into the hall and back toward the stairs.

* * *

><p>The liquid metal shot out again around Rael's defenses. It rolled up around his wrist he retreated trying to free himself from the spiking grip.<p>

"Rael!" Naomi called coming up the stairs. Quicksilver shot long silver whips in her direction, her shadow shot up to defend. When it shifted direction Naomi's shadow shifted with it in pliable fashion. "Looks like you could use some help."

Rael scoffed. "Don't go interrupting my fight, Reckless." The black energy covered his free hand like a gauntlet, and he grasped the spiny tendril around his wrist. "I'm more than able to fight my own battles." He pulled Quicksilver closer to him, the boy stumbled and pulled the liquid metal back to himself. "Though he's yet to say anythings to me." Rael stated, "I wonder if he speaks."

"I speak when it's relevant!" Quicksilver stated angrily, he swung out his hand at Rael, droplets of mercury separated from his finger tips and spun toward Rael.

Naomi's skin was beginning to loose its glimmer, the shadows at her feet were starting to fade, looking like the static on a television just before its final click off. One of the globules hit Rael's skin, at first nothing happened then it began to spread, digging itself into Black Blade's skin, he immediately tried to rip the liquid from his arms and face. The boy flung several more in Naomi's direction.

She looked to the shadow's of the globules, her own shadow fading. She gritted her teeth and waved a hand in the same fashion as Quicksilver had, "Swallow them." She whispered, her eyes turned white. The shadows beneath the little metal bubbles shot up at the same rate as the 'bullets' moved and swallowed them before they could touch Naomi. They paused mid-air.

Prism walked in just in time to watch the slowly moving and roiling bubbles of darkness, rotate once around Naomi, her skin pitch black and a shadow acting like a dying television screen. She tilted her chin slightly when Quicksilver fired more bullets. The bubbles shot forward and consumed the bullets and continued forward hitting and driving Quicksilver back several steps.

Quicksilver began to yelp suddenly and began trying to rip the blackness off his skin, "Burns! It burns!" He cried, trying to use his liquid metal to force the blackness off his skin.

"Get yours off Rael," Naomi stated, "And I'll stop it."

"Naomi what are you doing?" Prism put a hand on her shoulder, her skin was fridged to his touch, almost burning cold. He pulled back, "Naomi don't let your power control you!"

She glanced over her shoulder at him and winked, "I know what I'm doing." to herself she added, I hope.

The metal on Rael went limp and slithered to the floor into a puddle. Naomi pulled back the shadows from on Quicksilver, "If you knew what's good for you, you'll disappear." She whispered, she was thoroughly exhausted and knew she couldn't keep up the indestructible act for much longer.

Quicksilver's skin was raw in some places, and in a few it looked like the first few layers of flesh had been peeled away from him. He gritted his teeth, "Blink!" He yelled.

There was an explosion of two shapes appearing at once, Nightcrawler released the boy letting him fall across the floor, Blink got back to his feet after a moment of staggering and grabbed Quicksilver before they could move and vanished with him.

Naomi's knees gave, she sighed and looked up at the others, "Now can I go home?"

"Prism, that teleporter just grabbed the two up here and vanished." Fallen Angel said over the communicator, "Have you seen Nightcrawler?"

"I am here," said blue-skinned man replied, "I will take Naomi, Prism and Black Blade to the vehicle, then come back for the rest of you." he stated, he took hold of the three kids and left behind a blossom of black smoke.

Naomi exhaled they appeared next to the car, "I want to sleep for a week."

"I think we all do." Rune stated from where he sat on a seat in the car, his arm crudely wrapped in gauze. "All of this over a silly girl," he shook his head and smiled, "You get hurt?"

She shook her head and walked over to the car, behind her Nightcrawler vanished again, "Nothing that wasn't self inflicted I guess." Rune sat up, in the light from the car's ceiling lights he looked over her perfectly black skin, he touched her jaw and she flinched. "Well, except that I guess," she was surprised he'd seen it.

"It's swollen," Rune stated the unasked question of how he'd noticed. "Recharge hit you?"

"Where'd Pyro go?" She asked and rubbed her own hand over her jaw, "Slide over, I want to sit." Rune did as asked, the exhausted girl climbed into the car.

"Gone." was all he said.

"Reckless," Rael approached cautiously, "What was it you did, just before he ran...?"

Naomi closed her eyes and sighed, "I... tried to force him between." she said, then hurriedly tried to explain, the words didn't come out in a nice order and she stopped before she made too much of a fool of herself. She sighed and ran a hand through her faded black hair, some of it had tried to turn white. "I think the reason it hurt him is... I couldn't take all of him at once, so... I was tearing his skin and the rest of him into little pieces."

"In-between?" Prism said softly, the five of them, including Storm, were sitting in the car now, the others popped into existence where they had appeared before. "So another world?"

Naomi nodded.

"Naomi, I don't advise you try to take others there until we get more information about this place you can go." Storm stated, "It could only exist for you, it could be something entirely different for different people." She shook her head, "We'll have to run some test, but first we get home." She leaned her head out the window. "Load up! Chris, Warren, you two fly home, we'll be there soon. Chris, no sonic booms."

Fallen Angel and ArchAngel both nodded then took to the sky. Beast climbed in next to Naomi then the others, Logan took shotgun and watched out the window.

The sun was starting to come up. Naomi curled up slightly against Rune and closed her eyes. Rune adjusted his injured arm then let her fall asleep. Beast watched him carefully.


	34. Chapter 34

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**Weee! I love the idea I had for these next couple chapters. I hope you enjoy the game! I just had to write it up quickly, so lucky everyone, a second chapter!  
><strong>

**To Kali3310: Yeah, those two are pretty cute. Beast shall be hanging around the school a little more often if you catch my drift :p  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter 34<p>

Days began to grow warmer, everyone had decided to quickly forgot about the incident at the dance. Except for a few of them.

There was a ticking from a clock somewhere in the room. Naomi stared at the ceiling while trying to sleep. It was four in the morning but she couldn't hold still. She rolled over in bed again then sighed. Finally she got up, pulled a jacket on and went out to see Circuit. The night air was sweet against her skin, she lingered for a few moments looking at the glittering sky. The sun would be up in a few hours and they would all vanish. For now she could see them perfectly in the darkness.

She inhaled and closed her eyes, then opened them again, this time they were white. Everything was more defined as she looked around, darkness was deeper, lights were dimmer in the distance and brighter the closer they were, and none of it was out of focus as far as she could tell. She blinked and let it return to how it had been before. A part of Naomi knew that was how she should always see things. Being able to see the shadows of bats flying over head, the slightest movements in the trees... she didn't think she could handle it all the time. She hurried to the garage.

He answered the door rather groggily, he scratched his bedhead hair and looked at his watch. "Late night run in with Sparky?" he asked through a yawn.

She shook her head, "I just can't sleep. Sorry to wake you though. I thought you'd know if I can get into the simulator room at this hour."

Circuit blinked, his eyes adjusted and re focused again, "Well, yeah. But not alone." he walked back into his room then returned in a black shirt with green matrix designs down the front and jeans rather than boxers and a white shirt. "What do you want to do?" He closed his door while tugging one arm into a jacket.

She shrugged, "I want something challenging."

He walked down the few stairs to the garage floor then turned, "I have just the program." He said with a grin.

* * *

><p>Storm had decreed that it was warm enough to open the pool back up and to let students use it. Of course the most important thing to use the pool for was chicken fights and pool parties, but Hart came out in the early morning. A slight curling of steam rolling off the surface of the water, he left a towel on one of the lawn chairs and dove into the water. It wasn't a big enough pool to do full laps in, but two goes around the pool was a full lap. So, he would just have to go fast enough to not be found out by the others.<p>

Hart came in the house after his morning swim, wiping water from his swim in the pool from his face. He looked up and watched a source of agitation, troubled and annoyance coming toward him. He smirked, " It's only seven o'clock Rune what's eating you?"

Said being came into the room and leaned on the wall, he glanced at Hart, "No one knows where Naomi, Sparky, or Dragon are." Rune stated.

Hart sighed, "Sparky went down to the danger room this morning she texted me a while ago. So she's not out eating Naomi or anything. Why are you worried about Dragon?"

"Storm said he missed his training session." Rune stated. "She wanted me to look for him."

Hart sighed, "I'll go ask Sparky if she's seen the two if them. Did you look in her room for her? Or she could be with her Uncle, Beast come down here every other week since she was taken." He paused, "Yesterday she said she hadn't been sleeping well because of it. That was what, almost three weeks ago?" Rune didn't say, "Are you ever gonna tell me what happened?"

"I'm gonna look in her room." he walked away and vanished deeper into the house.

Hart shook his head while walking toward the other stairs, it was quicker way to his room to change and go see what Sparky knew.

* * *

><p>Rune knocked on the door, it swung inward. The bed was unmade, the curtains still drawn and the lights out. He flicked them on to get a better idea. He smirked, it defiantly wasn't the room she'd first moved into. She'd hung up a full length mirror on the back of the bathroom door, Beast had gotten her a set of book shelves, Flicker had gotten her a few books for it, to most of their amazement he'd given them to her in person. There was a shoe box filled with various nick-nacks she'd found at the mall or other stores she'd gone to. Rune wandered around the room looking at everything before pulling back the curtains.<p>

There were a few pots with dirt in them sitting on the porch. The chair from the dining room was still sitting out there, along with a fuzzy, blue, uncle with a book in his hands, his glasses perched on his nose. He glanced up at Rune and lowered them slightly. Rune felt a shiver run down his spine as he closed the book and waved a hand for him to join him out in the morning air.

"Good morning, Beast." Rune said calmly.

"Rune," He put the book down on a little side table, his glasses joined the book, "I've been wanting to talk to you, concerning my niece."

He swallowed. "She's an amazing girl." He said simply. He put his hands up behind his head, "And I know she's been through a lot of hard stuff in her life."

Beast nodded, "Yes, on both counts, and if I find out you've been creating more grief in her life, we will be having a more... difficult conversation." He leaned forward, "I do hope you understand."

Rune licked his lips then nodded, "I'm not gonna hurt her. I'm sure she'd beat me senseless before you'd get a chance if I did anything to hurt her." He smiled looking off into the distance. "I think I'd enjoy trying to fight with Naomi." He blinked, coming back to himself and remembering his company, "Anyway, have you seen Naomi this morning, Curse, Ivy, and Siren haven't seen her."

Beast smiled and chuckled, "She went down stairs some time ago with Circuit." He picked up his glasses again and leaned back in the chair, "I'll be watching you Rune. Just so you know." Rune nodded and left the room. Beast's phone went off, he answered. "This is Hank MaCoy, who's speaking?"

"I want to talk to Naomi." The angry, fatherly voice on the other end stated.

* * *

><p>Rune opened the door to the simulator room and walked into a hedge. He fumbled and stumbled away from it spitting out leaves. "Rune, I was wondering how long til you got here." He looked down to the left and saw Hart sitting calmly on what looked like a garden park bench.<p>

"What the hell's going on in here?" He asked stumbling over to Hart. The hedge suddenly burst into flames, he jumped away and sat next to the empath. "What's going on?"

"They're playing king of the hill." Hart stated with a smile, "In a labyrinth."

Ivy came up from the floor in front of them, she let spill several colorful words before getting to her feet and running into the maze again. "What the maze is made of shows who's the current 'King'." Hart explained.

"Is Naomi here?"

The maze walls began to fizzle out from the flames as Rune assumed Dragon fought to keep the hill. The last of them drizzled out and the walls turned pitch black. Lights came on over head. "That answer your question?"


	35. Chapter 35

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**To firewhisperer: Be wary of the daddy... what shall he try?  
><strong>

**To Kali3110: Oh, so you want me to do something like... :p  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 35<p>

Circuit was up in the control box monitoring all the movements of the players when there was a knock on the door, "Yeah, yeah, come in." He called. The door opened and in walked Wolverine. "Hey Logan, what's shakin'?" Techno music was playing loudly in the control box.

"Whose wise idea was a maze?"

"Naomi, she wanted it more challenging." He smiled while adjusting the program, "Don't worry, Aurora approved, as long as she's got that monitor thing on for if she goes to that 'in-between' thing or whatever it is." He looked over at Logan, "You can supervise if you want. Hart's at one of the starting points." He motioned out the window, "the players when they loose the hill are randomly placed at one of the entrances to the maze and have to do a run through an occasionally changing maze back to the center of the room. Where the hill is, first one to knock the king off the hill becomes the king until their dethroned." Circuit shrugged, "simple game really, uses both brains and brawn."

The walls became a contortion of shadows and electrical energy. Sparky and Naomi were battling for the hill.

"Couldn't that electric girl fry the monitor?" Logan asked watching the walls, and the forms of the two girls in the center of the maze below.

Circuit shook his head, "I fixed it to... well basically ignore outside electrical currents." He scratched his head, its a lot more technical than that. The system beeped. He pressed a button, "What's up Hart?"

"Rune's here, he wants to know if he can join the game." Hart replied.

"Hmm... invisible gravity field walls..." He started pressing buttons, Logan watched as the boy's eyes flew over the buttons and keys as fast as his fingers did, and shook his head, all this technology... "Alright, I think I got it down." He pressed another button. "Attention all players." His voice came on over the speakers, "We have someone joining the game, Rune, go when you're ready!"

Naomi lost her control of the hill, the walls turned to electrical energy while Rune started off into the high walled maze.

* * *

><p>She sighed coming up at one of the entrances. She dusted herself off and stretched, the announcement had thrown her off. Naomi stood for a moment in the silence. "There needs to be some music..." she muttered. Though she was pretty sure it would distract them all. She watched the electricity dance and jump from one wall to the next.<p>

Naomi smiled, getting through the maze was part of the fun. She ran into the fray, jumping a bolt of electrical power as she went. Shadows would move and shift with the light off the electricity but not enough to be erratic and disruptive to her. She was getting stronger, the very idea of it sent thrills through her body. She turned a corner from one of her previous runs and found a dead end forming. She headed for it, her shadow shot ahead of her and laid on the walls surface. She walked through it and out the other side. She paused after stepping out of the shadow and let her own dark companion join her again at her feet. Sure, she could of jumped to the hill if she wanted but where was the challenge in that? She wanted something to exhaust her both mentally and physically at the moment, too much was polluting her thoughts. Really, all she wanted to do was sleep.

Ivy passed an opening ahead of Naomi, her skin had a wooden quality to it, the electrical currents seemed to avoid her completely. She grinned and took a different direction. Yes, it was allowed for players to attack other players before they reached the hill, but she tried to avoid that as best she could manage. The walls changed into flames rather suddenly. Naomi laughed avoiding the jumping flames. Dragon must of gotten the drop on Sparky.

The monitor in her pocket ticked rather annoyingly every time she used her powers, the higher the concentration of use the faster it would tick. She ducked behind another wall to avoid being seen by Sparky, she was set on being the final king of the hill, or at least to hold the hill through at least two battles.

Sparky turned left then right and collided with Rune. She jumped back to her feet. Electricity jumped across her fingers. Rune laughed and levitated her off the ground with a quick movement of his hands. She yelped as the energy on her hands decreased, she needed to be grounded to attack with more power than static cling. She humphed and crossed her arms while Rune walked under her. After a moment Sparky glided gently back to the ground again. She took off toward the hill in a different direction than Rune.

He walked calmly though the maze, the crackling of flames was almost comforting. He had a general idea as to the center, but he'd run into four dead ends just since entering the maze. Rune paused when Naomi ran from one entrance in the maze, crossed his line of vision then vanished around the next corner up. He took up the same pace and followed her. "Follow someone who's been playing the game the longest. Sounds like a good plan."

Naomi felt him following her, she shook her head and took a turn she knew would lead to a dead end. Rune followed. She shadowed through the blocking wall and came out on the other side. Rune slid to a halt at the dead end. "Ha ha, Naomi! That's a great way to treat a new player."

"I believe in letting people learn from their own failures!" She called back over the wall. At that she took the last few turns to the central hub. The walls began a partial shift between fire and electricity again. Sparky was a glutton for punishment, Naomi shook her head, every time the younger girl had gone against Dragon she'd either barely manage to gain the hill or would loose; not that that stopped her. Naomi couldn't help but like her determination. She walked slowly waiting to see the determined winner of their little spat.

Electricity began to jump across the walls.


	36. Chapter 36

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 36<p>

The first thought was where was Ivy. Ivy had a power that could counter Sparky's like she was trying to hit Ivy with water balloons... Naomi decide that wasn't the best comparison even as it crossed her mind. Ivy would give herself armor made out of wood, it didn't do her much good against Dragon -not that that kept her from trying to beat Dragon when he was on the hill- she could drive Sparky back with ease. Naomi moved silently through the center spiral. It didn't show the power of the one on the hill. In the end it was all up to chance who arrived at the hill to fight who.

Ivy and Naomi both came out from the maze at the same moment. Once standing at the base of the hill there was no going back into the maze. An intentional back step would send the player to one of the starts again. All three of the girls grinned, it was going to be interesting, and if they were lucky, fun.

Naomi ran at Sparky catching the girl's attention. She sent a wave of electricity across the ground at Naomi, she jumped into her shadow and came up behind Ivy on the other side, "Team up?" She asked when Sparky's eyes turned to the two of them.

"Sorry Reckless, there can only be one king of the hill." Branches wrapped up around Naomi's ankles and Ivy jumped out of the way, a surge of electric power jolted through Naomi sending her to her knees when it faded. The branches had lessened the blow somewhat but her vision was tinged blue from the power Sparky had thrown at her. Naomi looked up as Sparky threw similar 'shock' waves toward Ivy as she ran in a sideways fashion toward her. Sparky was trying to see how much it took to break through Ivy's defenses.

Still somewhat rooted to the spot, Naomi resorted to dropping into her shadow. When she rose again the monitor clicked twice. She'd come up in one of the walls shadows, the clicks brought Sparky's attention to her. Another shot came in her direction.

This time she was ready, she raised her arms bringing her shadow up into a cocoon around her body, a second layer came up around her feet, the petals ran up the electrical current; using it as a path directly to Sparky. She immediately cut off the flow and sent the vine like shadows back to their original place. Naomi dropped the shadow and started up the hill.

Vines came from the other side of the hill as Ivy continued her attack.

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><p>Hart knocked once on the door to the control room before entering, "So, who's winning?"<p>

"Sparky's spent the most time as king of the hill." Circuit stated, "But she's fighting back both Reckless and Ivy right now, so I don't know how much longer she'll stay there."

Logan glanced over at Hart, "Why aren't you in the game?"

"I was," Hart began, "This is the second round, I won last round, but they all considered my method cheating." Wolverine raised an eyebrow, "I, ah, influenced them to try every path that wasn't the one to the hill." He shrugged, "Sparky was the first to figure it out and Naomi shadow jumped up behind me and dethroned me, I was barred from playing this round."

"Quite the power you've got there kid." Wolverine stated. "Mess with my head and we'll have problems."

Hart just smiled and looked out the window. The sparks on the walls were beginning to diminish as the plants began to increase, darkness crept along the bottoms of the walls. "So, where's Rune hiding at?"

"Just outside the inner paths, I think he's waiting for the girls to finish their spat." Circuit stated.

The electrical power faded completely as Sparky lost her hold on the hill.

* * *

><p>It felt like she was being hugged by the tree as roots wrapped tighter around her, pinning her arms to her sides. Ivy climbed to the top of the hill and smiled, "Say uncle." She said in a sweet voice.<p>

Naomi shook her head and closed her eyes, cracks spread across her face as her shadow, in a sense, rammed up around her, sharpened black edges slicing through the wood, "I'm not done yet." She stated when the last of the roots were cut away. She opened her now white eyes, "Hit me with your best shot."

Ivy eeped suddenly as she began to float up from the top of the hill. Rune came walking lazily toward the hill, "Sorry, was I interrupting?"

Annoyed the floating girl brought up vines from below her, they turned and shot toward Rune. They stopped mid-air, they continued to try and reach him but could only go around his bubble of outward pressing gravity. Rune smiled, "Fun game Naomi, who told you about king of the hill?"

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><p><strong>Yeah, its a slightly shorter chapter, but I wanted to put all of the fight between Rune and Naomi in one chapter, if I can manage. Keep reading everyone, I love my lurkers, even if they don't give me reviews!<br>**


	37. Chapter 37

**Hello again to all my friends. I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 37<p>

Ivy sighed coming up at another of the entrances. The walls were a blur of shadow and not being there at all. She started into the maze immediately, if Rune won the game would become almost impossible, invisible walls that would press down on the person who crossed them by accident. She sighed, "Who's idea was it to let him play?" she said crossly. Up in the control room Hart sneezed.

Naomi moved fluidly out of the way from a blast of pressure. Rune had knocked Ivy back with a hit like that she'd caught herself with vines and had tried to send more at Rune only to be pushed harder against the wall the vines trying to reach him pressed back against the floor and at her sides. Ivy quickly yelled she was done and was taken out leaving just her and Rune.

Naomi's shadow whips were more effective at moving through the changes in gravity and pressure than the plants had. He made himself float just above the ground in attempts to avoid the shadows.

"Just gonna dodge?" he asked with a grin. Then he jumped to avoid the swipe of a shadowy hand. "Apparently not..." He attempted to push away a second sweeping hand, it wavered in its movement for a moment before grabbing hold of one of his wrists.

"Can't apply gravity to something that isn't effected by it." Naomi said and stuck out her tongue at him. She send another hand at him, Rune sent a wave at her of gravity again. The shadow changed direction and curled around Naomi in a spiral, she smiled at him. "Not as strong as you thought?" She asked playfully as her shadow shot out again and restrained his other arm.

Hart watching from above chuckled, "She's a good opponent for Rune, her shadow can be solid or intangible at her choice." He stated.

Logan smirked, "Seems like she's getting excited."

Circuit turned on the speaker, "Five minutes and the game ends, we have other places to be sometime today." He clicked off the mic and turned to the two of them, "From what Rael tells me she's been training a lot more lately. She won't say why, but I'm guessing she doesn't want to be an easy target again for the Shadow Brotherhood."

Hart shook his head, "She wasn't an easy target for them." He looked out at them, Rune had gotten out of the shadow's grasps, he was throwing blasts of pressure at Naomi, from what he could tell Rune was trying to keep Naomi busy with dodging so she couldn't wrap him in darkness again. "I think she wants to be able to keep it from happening again, she wants to protect her friends."

"How Reckless of her." Rael said closing the door behind her, he walked up and looked out at them, "Three more moves and she'll have him restrained."

Hart blinked and looked out to watch.

Naomi jumped over another blast of pressure, it felt cold against her back as she landed on her hands, she pivoted on her palms and landed facing Rune, he blinked in astonishment. "Where'd you learn that?"

Naomi giggled, "Cat's been showing me." She waved out a hand, from her fingertips came her shadow separated into five parts. Rune cursed, he attempted to dodge them, each one latched onto a different part of him. One for each wrist, one for each elbow and one coiled around his mid-section. "Do you surrender?" She asked letting her shadow drift back from her hand to her feet.

"How could you tell what she was going to do?" Hart asked, "What were the three moves?"

"One," Rael began, "She jumped and landed on her hands, two, she bonded her shadow to her hands, and three she surrounded him with the separated parts." He smirked, "She did it on me yesterday."

From the corner of his eye Hart saw Rune move, he ran to the window and banged on it, "Don't you dare Rune!"

He dragged his foot across the ground and sent out a wave of gravity toward Naomi. Unprepared for the attack she pulled up her shadow like a curtain before her, it seemed to hold for a second then burst sending her flying backwards. The shadows holding Rune released immediately and fled to try and catch the thrown girl. Rune was faster.

She slowed to a halt mid-air seconds before slamming into the wall. Rune ran over to her and caught her. "Dammit, dammit... I shouldn't of done it. Damn it! I thought I could control it."

Naomi was somewhat in a daze as he put her gently down. Her lower right arm was throbbing slightly, she flexed her fingers experimentally. Yep, they worked fine. She looked up at him, "What did you do?"

He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair, "It's easier to control with my hands, but I've been trying to kick out the same power and it just comes out too strong. Are you okay?"

"You broke my shadow." She stated incredulously. "It's shattered."

Wolverine appeared on the top of the hill, "Games over." He muttered then walked over to the two as the walls dissipated. He smacked Rune upside the head, "You tryin' to kill her? Don't do somethin' if you can't control it." He looked down at Naomi, "You alright kid?"

"My arm hurts," she said softly, "It got pulled when my shadow broke." She waved the other hand out then pulled in tightly to her chest. Bits of shadow came toward her from all over the room and pooled around her, it was a sorry sight if she'd ever seen one, it was barely visible beneath her. Naomi turned her attention to her arm. It had already been black from her other skin cracking away, now where it would normally have a faint glimmer it was dark around her wrist and nearly to her elbow. The glimmer in her skin resumed after her elbow and in her palm. She sighed, "I'm pretty sure it isn't broken though."

"Go get it looked at," Logan ordered, she nodded and stood. Rune did as well, Logan grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt, "Nope, you stay here. As the disciplinary... teacher I'm required to deal out your punishment."

"It was an accident!" Rune said immediately, Hart opened the door as Naomi walked out.

Hart sighed watching her holding her arm, "He always plays too rough with others eventually." Sparky nodded in agreement, "You want us to come with you?"

"I don't have a class for a while," Sparky added helpfully. She'd been trying to make up for her rude behavior at their first meeting since Hart had explained everything to her.

"No, I'm fine. I was planning to visit Nightmare after this anyway." Naomi stated, she shrugged. "I'll just stick around a little longer than I expected."

_"Yay! I can't wait for more trying to invade your mind!"_ Emily said to her mentally. Naomi smiled, the others said their goodbyes and headed upstairs. Dragon came out from the training room next.

"You ok?" He asked. Naomi nodded, "Kay, better not do anything stupid with your shadow in such poor condition." He walked toward the stairs.

"Noted." She walked into Emily's room and sat down. "Can you get someone down here to look at this?"

_"This being?_" Emily asked.

"My wrist," She closed her eyes and let Emily see what had happened through her eyes. "Please?"

"_There should be braces for your wrist with the other braces six or seven drawer from the center. If its just sore or sprained that should help it." _Emily stated_. "I suggest you let it heal on its own."_

Naomi went in search of said brace and eventually slid a black wrist brace on. "Thanks." She returned to her seat, "So, shall we begin?"

* * *

><p>Rune groaned and rolled his shoulder while walking down the hall, wrestling with Logan was indeed a punishment. He heard giggling, he opened the door to Emily's room and found Naomi sitting with her back against the legs of the bed Emily lay in. He raised an eyebrow as she held the one sided conversation. The other half going on in her mind.<p>

"Is this a private party?" He asked walking in.

Naomi looked up, "Crap what time is it?" She got up from the floor.

"Twenty minutes since the game ended." He looked at the brace on her wrist and gently took her arm in his hands, he rolled it over so her palm was up, and gently kissed her palm. "I'm sorry by the way."

She began to blush. Rune looked up at her and for a moment just stared. Her skin had cracked across her cheeks earlier and now where the blackness was exposed it was glittering brighter than usual. He grinned, "That's cute." She quickly looked away as the glittering began to increase even more. "Sorry," he waved a hand toward the door, "shall we get upstairs to your class you are clearly late for?"

By the time they got upstairs Naomi had the glittering-blushing back under control. "You are forbidden to tell anyone about that." Naomi ordered.

"What? I think that is such a cute quality in a girl, she glistens when she is embarrassed." he said in a sarcastically dreamy voice waving a hand out dramatically.

She pushed him away from her, "I'm serious, I hear even a whisper of anyone else knowing what happens when I'm flustered and I will bury you up to your nose in the," she stopped when she heard sniffling. She looked over the couch they were walking past to see Cat sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest, fresh tear marks down her cheeks. "What's wrong Cat?"

The girl looked up at her and jumped up, she flung her arms around Naomi's neck and began to cry in earnest. "I don't want you to go!"

Rune looked at her confused, "She's not going anywhere Kitten-Cat. Who said Naomi was going anywhere?"

She sniffled and wiped at her tears, "I... I was practicing my sneaking down the halls and... and I heard Storm talking to the fuzzy man. He... he said it would be safer for everyone if Naomi went back."

"Back? Back whe-" Naomi went ridged, she looked down the hall then back at Cat. She disentangled herself from the girl and quickly went to the room where she heard Storm talking to her Uncle. She pushed open the door, the two of them fell silent. "He called, didn't he."


	38. Chapter 38

** I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**So, I start my final year of college next week. (woot!) I don't know how often the updates will come, especially since I'm an English major and will likely be barraged with many papers, just remember, I'm always thinking on this one... and the other fic that's sort of on hiatus until my Spirited Away muse returns from its odd vacation... don't ask why I said it could have paid vacation. Anywhoo, the main writing muse I have is working on this fic mostly as well as other original works I've been writing.**

**So again, I love my readers, and my reviewer. If I don't update I'm working on papers, or my dream-to-be-novel or reading all the books for my lit class.  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 38<p>

"No!" Naomi repeated for the seventh time since entering the room where Beast and Storm sat discussing her future at, or not at the school. "I'm not going back with him, I'd go join the Shadow Brotherhood first."

"He's threatening to take legal actions against the school, and against your uncle." Storm tried to explain, "He'll put a lot of pressure on your uncle's political position, if he's charged with your kidnapping,"

"He didn't kidnap me I ran away." Naomi stated her voice elevated. "If I go back to that house they'll move and I'll never be free again."

Rune paused outside the door hearing bits of the conversation, he frowned and leaned on the wall just to the side of the door and continued to listen.

"Naomi, it would only be until we get a hearing." Hank said, "I've already been working with a lawyer to try and gain custody of you."

"Did you not hear me, dad probably has already bought tickets to some far away place and started moving the stuff in the house," Naomi replied, "Even if you get that stuff to go through I'd already have vanished off the face of the planet!"

Beast stood and put his hands on her shoulders, "I don't think there's another way Naomi, if we cooperate with Brett then it should go more in our favor in the custody hearing."

Shadows wrapped around his wrists and pushed his hands off her shoulders, "It won't do me any good if I'm dead..." she muttered then spun and ran out of the room. She ran past Rune without looking at him and up to her room, Rune followed.

Naomi slammed her door shut and began throwing her things into a backpack she'd bought a few months ago. The monitor on her clicked again, annoyed at it she pulled up her shirt and began to pull off wires and undid the clasp around her stomach.

Rune opened the door, "Woah," he immediately turned his back on her, "Didn't think you'd be stripping in here."

"Then knock." She said sharply. She threw the device against the wall breaking it into many small pieces. "I'm leaving, just thought you should know."

"I heard."

"No." She spun on him, her eyes darker, her shadow vibrating around her, "I am _not_ leaving with my father. No one wants me here anymore so I'm going to go where no one will ever find me."

He grabbed her arm as she turned to return to stuffing her bag, "Cathrine wants you here." She looked away, "Hey," he raised his voice, she looked back, "I want you here." He finished softly. "So do a lot of the others, don't lie to yourself."

Naomi pulled her arm away from him while tears started to blur her vision, "I'm sorry, but I can't, I won't go back to that house." She zipped the bag closed.

"What Beast said sounds like a good plan," he wrapped his arms around her shoulders that shook slightly with suppressed cries. "We won't let you just disappear you know that right? We have lots of ways of keeping track of you."

"Rune... I don't want to end up like Emily." She whispered. Naomi slipped out of his arms, her shadow pulled up against the wall, she went through it. Rune grabbed her arm again and vanished.

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><p>His eyes opened on a gray sky, he was on his back. The ground was rough and uncomfortable. What concerned him most was he couldn't see Naomi. Immediately Rune sat up and searched his surroundings. It wasn't hard to find her. She was sitting maybe five feet from him. Her knees pulled up to her chest and chin on her knees, her hair striking white against her black skin in this gray world. He got up slowly and walked over to her. "You okay."<p>

She looked up at him, after a moment relief filled her face. She got to her feet and threw her arms around his neck. "I didn't know you'd follow me, and I didn't know what happened when we came through, you just passed out... I thought..." she started to stumble over the words.

He sighed and returned the hug, "I'm fine. This is a weird place." He looked at the completely flat horizon. "So, we're between the shadows?"

Naomi let him go, "Something like that."

"Its really empty. Is there anything at all here?" He asked looking around.

She shrugged, "I've never gone very far. The shadows are here," she motioned to the black bulbous shapes moving slowly across the ground. "I wouldn't touch them if I were you, they're very... sticky." Rune raised an eyebrow. "Don't ask."

Rune shrugged, "So, this is where you're going to hide? Nothing to eat, nothing to do... seems really stupid to me."

Naomi rolled her eyes and sat back down on the ground, "Its better than that house..." she looked up at him, "He took a cheese grader to my arm once, I think he was convinced that the black skin was only a few layers deep and he could get it all off then I'd be normal."

Rune sat next to her, he ran a hand down her arm and turned her hand over, the other was still in the brace, "I think either way, your beautiful."

Her face glimmered brightly and she pulled her hand away from him, "Cut it out."

"What," he said with a grin, "I'm not allowed to flirt with you now?"

"You're just doing it to make me blush..." she murmured then turned away and closed her eyes.

"No, I'm just telling the truth." Rune laid back on the ground with his hands behind his head, "This place could at least do with some grass..."

The breeze gently blew across them, in her mind Naomi agreed. Something tickled at Naomi's ankles, she opened her eyes, the gravel ground had turned into gray grass. She looked around in surprise. Rune sat up and looked around as well, "Well... at least its very... accommodating." He looked at Naomi, "We have to go back, you can't hide forever."

She frowned, "Of course I can." Rune gave her a skeptical look, she sighed and laid back on the gray grass, "I don't want to think about that right now... distract me."

Rune slid over next to her, "There are many ways a guy can distract a girl." Naomi sat straight up and looked at him incredulously. "But I'm not that kind of guy, against the popular belief of the school I never slept with Recharge. I may of been high on the girl, but I wasn't stupid." He closed his eyes for a moment, "Do you think what you desire is what changes this place, like if I wanted to have a beach and the ocean over in that direction," he waved a hand. "It would appear?"

Naomi scoffed, "I think it's my desires, its my world after all. I would never have an ocean here. I can't swim."

Rune looked up at her and smiled, "That will go on the list then."

"List? What list?"

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><p><strong>To Kali3110: Even weak humans have something that good mutants have to bow to.. the legal system... dang him. More to come as always. Thanks for always reviewing!<strong>

**Rune is oh so good at distracting, don't you agree? Lol, more of the two of them in between in the next chapter. Then they come out, and other stuff will take place... Don't want to ruin it all now do I?  
><strong>


	39. Chapter 39

** I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**I just realized that I broke fifty thousand words... wow, if this was for nanwrimo I would be jumping up and down and cheering for myself... I think I will cheer for myself anway :p Thanks everyone for keeping me going.  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 39<p>

Rune shrugged, "Nothing really, just things I'd like to do, with you while we're going out."

Naomi blinked then giggled, "Who says we're going out?" He gave her a hurt face, Naomi laid on her stomach, "I mean it, we've been on two "dates" if you want to call them that, and they both ended really bad."

"Yes," he replied, "and I'm planning to make up for them so you're not allowed to leave and disappear with your psychotic family." He leaned over and pushed some of her white hair back behind her ear. "You should try calling them, telling them your uncle didn't take you away, you left." He closed his eyes for a moment, "Oh, and Hart says so. According to him both our energies change dramatically every time we notice each other." To this comment Naomi gave a glittering blush.

She sighed and shook her head, "They wouldn't believe me. They'd say something along the lines of 'Naomi he tricked you with all his talk, your sick sweetheart you just need to come back home with us.'" She hung her head for a moment before looking at him. "I use to think I was just sick for a while too. If they just accept what I am maybe they'll leave me alone."

"You never know until you try." He replied.

Naomi smiled and tilted her head to the side, "So, what's on the list?"

Rune sat up with a wicked smirk on his face, "Secret. First, we have to get back into your room and make a phone call." He got to his feet and offered her a hand.

* * *

><p>Cat was curled up on Naomi's bed when they appeared again, Naomi's skin immediately returned to more natural colors. Cat sat for a moment longer before jumping up and latching onto Naomi's legs, she tripped over the girl taking Rune to the floor as well with a loud crash. The three of them lay there for a moment before Naomi and Rune broke into fits of laughter.<p>

"I thought you'd gone away..." Cat said blushing profusely. She wasn't the only one, Naomi's face was bright red while she lay atop Rune, she bit her lower lip.

He smirked, leaned forward until his mouth was next to her ear and whispered, "Unless you move, I will kiss you." He then leaned back just enough and softly put his lips against hers.

It felt as if a silly sort of warmth spread from her stomach to every inch of her person, she was sure if she'd been in her blackened skin she'd be glistening from every inch of skin. Rune broke the contact and grinned mischievously before getting all three of them up from the floor. "Where's your phone?"

It took her a moment to regain her composure enough to even remember where she'd left the electronic device. "How rude, you stole my first kiss." she stated while going through her bag and taking out her cell phone.

"Oh good, then you have nothing to compare it to." He replied impishly.

She rolled her eyes and went through her recent calls. She'd tried to work up the courage at least once a month to dial their number. It would ring twice then she would hang up the phone. This time she let it keep ringing.

"Hello?" Came her mother's voice over the line. Naomi almost hung up.

She swallowed. "Mom, its me."

"Oh Naomi!" She guessed her mom turned her head away as the nest words were softer. "It's Naomi." Then turned back to the phone, "Sweetheart, I just wanted to thank you for that card you sent me on my birthday, oh your father wants to talk to you."

"I'm coming to get you tomorrow Naomi." His voice was short and straight forward wanting no argument. "You are coming home with me."

"Tell her about the new job you got." Her mom's voice said in the background. She called loudly, "We're moving to Tokyo~!" She said in a sing song voice.

Naomi's stomach dropped, "Tokyo, really dad?" She said aloud. Rune gave a look of disapproval and Cat sat on the bed looking between them curiously. "You'll have to drop me a line some time. 'Cause I'm not going with you."

"Don't be stupid Naomi. You're coming home tomorrow, you don't belong there, whatever they've been telling you is a lie." He stated. "You're not one of those freaks, you're sick that's all."

"I'm. Not. Sick!" She yelled into the phone, "I never have been! There's nothing wrong with me how I am right now! I'm not going home with you, I'm not moving to Tokyo!" She took a deep breath, she felt more confident the more she spoke. "Uncle Hank didn't kidnap me, I ran away. I hate that dark room and the looks you and mom give me every time I leave that room for any reason. I want to be here, I like being here. I've made friends and I'm going to school like a normal kid my age should be."

"You're not a normal kid Naomi, you're very sick and your uncle and all those people have been telling you nothing but lies." He said loudly, her mother had gone quiet. "Listen to me, I will be there tomorrow afternoon to pick you up and then we are heading to the airport, don't fight me Naomi. You remember what happens when you fight me."

An icy chill ran down her spine as the line went dead. She closed the phone and bit her lip. "They're coming tomorrow..." she whispered.

"Then what are we going to do about it?" They turned to see Beast standing in the doorway.

Naomi smiled weakly. "Can you get a court order or a hearing set up by then?"

Hank smiled, "I'll see what I can do." He walked in and wrapped his arms around her. "That was very brave of you Naomi."

She buried her face in his furry shoulder, "I'm scared..."


	40. Chapter 40

** I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**Dun dada dun! Chapter forty, the long awaited encounter with daddy. Read and see if it ends pretty ~doubt it, highly doubt it~**

**Shout outs!**

**Kali3110: You're so cute! I love that you wish to kill him, I would love to see the mob of readers in attacking my characters.**

**Firewhisperer: Lessee... Sparky is sweet under it all, she's just over the top in everything. Just wait til' you see her really angry, like... about Naomi's dad. lol. Okay, so the reason she's scared of her dad even though she's gotten stronger is cause in her mind she doesn't think she's strong enough yet cause back then she had her powers and her dad still ended up with all the power in that situation so somewhere in the back of her mind Naomi's scared that it doesn't matter how stronger she gets her dad would still end up with the power. Its true that she'd probably end up in social services, that's probably why her dad would just move away and vanish. So here comes the battle!  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter 40<p>

Hank spent most of the rest of the day on the phone. Naomi, not one to stay still asked Siren and Sparky if they could help her with something. Rune was barred from following them downstairs into the training room. Though annoyed at this Rune couldn't get down the stairs. Mara, or Granite was standing at the doors with a book for herself to pass the time. Rune decided not to try getting hit by a her and went out to the garage.

Circuit passed him on his way out, he paused and looked Rune over for a moment, "You are annoyed."

"And you're not Hart." Rune replied shortly. He pulled out some of the tools and started working on taking the flat off the motorcycle that he hadn't changed since the dance. "Where are you off to?" He didn't really care to learn.

"Taking Curse to a movie." Circuit replied smiling. "I heard there was stuff going on in the main house."

"Yeah... lots of shit going down." He sighed and leaned on the bike, "You like Curse right?"

Circuit blinked, "Well, yeah. Why?"

"Would you try and keep her safe, even if she was probably hurting herself?"

He walked closer to Rune, "What's Naomi doing?"

The lights in the garage flickered then floated the two boys into complete darkness for a moment before turning on again, "Something with Sparky." Rune replied looking at the lights, "and that isn't a good sign." They both went toward the house and to the basement door, there was a small crowd of people standing there. Including Storm, Wolverine, and Beast.

Mara stood resolutely in their way against all manner of threats. "They told me not to let anyone down until Siren gives the okay."

"Then you know what their doing down there, Mara if they're doing something dangerous you have to let us go down there." Storm replied, "What are the three of them doing?"

Her phone went off, she held up a finger and answered the phone. "Yeah?" The person on the other end chatted with her for a while, then she nodded, "Alright, yeah, sure." She closed the phone and turned to the gathering, "They're done for now." She wiggled her way through the crowd as they tried to go down the stairs and she headed for the kitchen, they'd grabbed her just before she'd made her lunch she was starving.

When they opened the door Naomi was laying on her back staring at the ceiling, Siren was squatting next to her talking quietly and Sparky was leaning against the opposite wall panting.

"What in the world were you doing down here?" Storm yelled, her voice echoing.

Naomi rolled her head to look at the crowd, all but the roots of her hair was white, and all the skin they could see was glimmering black. She sat up, Siren gave her a hand in standing. "If you've got to punish someone, then punish me. I'm the one being reckless, they were just helping me."

"With what Naomi?" Beast asked, from behind him the kids were all trying to look over his massive blue form to see what was going on, Rune went past them and into the control room for a better look, as well as to look at the tapes.

"Defense," Naomi stated. "I got done what I needed to get done so I'm going to my room. You can text me my detention date if you want."

She walked past them all without another word, Hart shouldered his way into the room and went over to Sparky. The two of them spoke in soft tones for a moment then he gave an annoyed look at Siren then in the direction of the vanished shadow walker.

Wolverine walked over to them, "What did they do?"

Hart sighed, "Siren was singing, that was why they didn't want anyone else down here."

Sparky tugged on his arm, "You can't tell them anything!" She hissed, "You'll ruin it."

"What did you do to make the power go out?" Wolverine asked her.

"She threw a ball of compressed lightning." Rune said loudly walking into the room. "It hit the wall and disrupted the electricity." He leaned his head toward the control box, "I saw it on the recording." He then walked away up to the first floor.

Wolverine began sorting out the punishments for Sparky and Naomi, the other two didn't do anything really life threatening, though Mara may just get detention for blocking the way.

* * *

><p>Naomi worshiped her shower for a good hour or more letting the cool water run over every inch of her black skin. There were lancing marks on her skin where Sparky's attacks had hit and burned the skin. She was glad they'd waited for the smell of burnt skin to lessen before calling Mara. Wolverine likely smelled something but she was glad he didn't say anything.<p>

She ran her hands through her hair repeatedly and washed herself multiple times. By the time she exited the shower it was almost dark out. She hadn't been aware of the passage of time since going down stairs. He'll be here tomorrow... she thought to herself. Was she going to be strong enough this time? Would everything she just worked on be for nothing?

"I watched the recording."

Naomi held her towel tightly around her and turned to the door, it was open but no one was there. She bit her lip then closed the door, she hoped Rune would forgive her for keeping him out. He would of stopped them before they'd even started if he'd heard what she'd done. She changed into her pjs and climbed into bed, exhausted. "Don't be mad..." she whispered.


	41. Chapter 41

** I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**Haha, tricked you all! This will be where we see daddy again though.**

**Shout outs to all my reviewers! Oh, to all those who keep reading even when there are lack of updates because of school and other things, I'm glad you're enjoying my story that much!**

**firewhisperer: Sorry for the long-ish wait, but here's the next chapter. Thanks for the congrats for chapter 40. ^-^**

**Kali3110: She wouldn't be called Reckless if she wasn't like that occasionally. Thanks for waiting for the chapter.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter 41<p>

Hank sighed and closed his phone. He fell into one of the kitchen chairs and massaged his head; Storm walked in. "I suppose it would be wise to stop calling at eleven instead of continuing until..." he looked up at the clock. "three." She offered him a cup of tea. He took it with his thanks. "What else can I do Aurora?"

"Sleep would help calm your mind my friend." She replied and drank her own cup of tea and sat beside him. "Wolverine's still trying to get Rune to say what was on those tapes." She shook her head, "I don't understand why he erased them once he'd watched them."

Beast drank deeply, "Likely believed it would get those girls in more trouble for what they were doing."

Hart walked in and cleared his throat. He was in his pjs and looked to be missing his sleep dearly. "Naomi's sleeping in her room, Thermal said he could see she's running a slight fever. No, we didn't go in her room. He looked through the door." Thermal had the ability to see heat signatures. "I bet if she tries to do whatever she was doing downstairs she'll make herself sick again."

"Thank you Hart, you look exhausted."

Hart nodded and sighed while rubbing his face. "Rune's pissed off at something and everything keeps floating and moving in the room. I can't sleep with that much noise and anger in my room. Circuit offered his spare bed."

Wolverine came in, "Then get to bed before you get detention." Hart looked up at him then rose from the place he was seated and left. "This was on the fax fuz-face." He handed him a piece of paper.

Beast read it over and sighed, "It'll take twenty-four hours for any judge to even look at the case." He rubbed his eyes, "He may disappear with her."

Chameleon stood silently beside the door, her hair, and the skin around the edges of her face were about the color of the wall behind her. She continued to listen.

"All your government work and you don't have any friends who are judges huh?" Logan scoffed and lit a cigar. "You say he beats the kid, don't you have any proof of it?"

Storm blinked, "Actually, we do." She stood and walked out of the room. Chameleon was gone when she walked out.

* * *

><p>Morning came far too soon, even if it was closer to nine when she started to stur. Naomi groaned and pulled the covers up over her head. Her head ached and her body was sore in places she didn't think possible. There were places where her skin was still black and it felt crispy to the touch. She flinched and tried to ignore the places where lightning had lanced across her skin. She got up and dressed as quickly as her tired, and angry body would allow.<p>

Her door opened, "So, you have some epic plan to make it so you can stay here?"

Naomi turned to retort something to Chameleon, but there wasn't anyone there. "Who?"

Slowly Cameleon came into sight, her hair turned to a faded red, she was drinking something from a mug, "Pretty sweet, huh?" She said with a smirk, "My skin started changing colors about a month ago. I'm practically the invisible woman." She put the cup down on the table. "Sparky's still exhausted from your oh so secretive training last night." Her hair and eyes changed to a bright blue, "So, when you're bastard of a father takes you back I'm taking your room. I just thought you'd like to know."

"I'm not going." Naomi replied sharply even before Chameleon had turned around. "I hope you haven't chosen paint for the walls." She flicked her hand up, black orbs rose around in a perfect circle around Chameleon coming from the color changer's own shadow, "If you don't want to be missing some of that now color changing skin you'll leave my room."

She smirked, "I guess Siren gave you a confidence boost." She turned on her heels and exited the room, carefully avoiding the black orbs.

Naomi closed her door, locked it, then sat heavily on the edge of her bed, her head pounding slightly. "Stop playing around Naomi... you'll collapse before you even get a chance if you keep this up." She whispered. After a moment more she got up, she'd go see Sparky, then Emily and perhaps even go apologize to Rune if she had time.

Sparky was curled up in her bed still when she knocked on the door, the slumbering girl opened one eye drowsily. "Come in?" she murmured.

Naomi walked in, "Sorry to wake you."

She smiled sleepily, "Hiding where I hit you?" she said commenting on the long sleeves and jeans. "I didn't mean to do it."

"I know, I told you to throw hard ones at me," Naomi replied and sat on the bed, "You should of said you were at your limit, I could of got someone else to finish."

Sparky shook her head, "Then you'd have to start all over again, you had to time it down to the millisecond right?" She stretched and sat up, static electricity had her hair standing up in all sorts of directions. "I knew it was important if you wanted me to attack you, I mean, I can still paralyze your shadow."

Naomi nodded, "Thanks for helping me by the way."

Sparky waved it off, "Hart would be unbearable if you left, he doesn't like to lose friends. He gets all, pouty." The two of them laughed at this, "I know he can't stand me some days, but those are usually days I'd like to be left alone." She stated, Naomi could understand this.

"I got to go, other plans to make if my other one falls through." Naomi got up and headed to the door.

"How many times do you think you can do it?"

Naomi paused, "Twice, maybe three times if I push it."

Sparky watched her for a moment, "You know, just cause we call you Reckless doesn't mean you always have to be so haphazard with your life. Don't hurt yourself."

The shadow walker smiled and nodded, "I'll keep that in mind, see you." She closed the door and headed down stairs.

_"I already know what you want Naomi,"_ Emily said before she'd even reached the stairs. "_I don't know how far I can track you, man your mind is easy to get into when you've been trying to kill yourself."_

Naomi laughed to herself, "Yeah, well... if things go bad, would you mind telling Rune what I want to tell him?"

_"I'm sure he'd rather hear it from you... but I guess, but only if you get taken away."_ There was a mental sigh, _"I'll miss you if you have to go Naomi, you're the only one who really visits me."_

She nodded, she'd miss this whole place, and even the people she hadn't managed to meet yet. She leaned against the wall and just watched the front door for a few minutes. Slowly she began to walk around the entire school looking and watching everything, she should of gone to her classes but that wouldn't help anything. Right now she wanted to memorize everything.

There was a chime, someone had pulled up to the front gate. Naomi looked at the clock it was ten til noon. She sighed and walked to the room where she could sense her uncle's shadow. The door opened just before she reached for the doorknob. Beast looked down at her and smiled, almost regretfully. "I did my best sweetheart, I'm still waiting on one call though, do you think you can stall for a bit?"

Naomi chuckled, "Delay tactic is exactly what I have." She turned and went out the front door.

Rune was sitting on the front steps, he was glaring at the car as it pulled up. Naomi gently touched his shoulder. "It's okay." she whispered.

He stood up and enveloped her in a hug, "If he takes you, I'll follow were ever you go." he whispered in her ear.

Naomi bit her lip and nodded, "I know, but I'm not planning on going anywhere." she wrapped her arms around him as well.

"Get your hands off my daughter, and Naomi get into this car." Naomi's grip tightened a bit as her father's voice clouded the air.

Rune ran a hand down her hair, "You okay."

It took her a moment but she nodded, she turned to face her father. "I don't think so, I'm not going anywhere."

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><p><strong>Oh, and welcome to my new followers. Send me reviews and I'll give you shout outs too! If your questions are a little too advanced in reply, like... in need of a longer reply I'll usually send it in a PM, or if its been a while, like the last chapter I'll still give you the answer in a shout out! Woot! Thanks so much for becoming my addicts... I mean followers.<strong>


	42. Chapter 42

** I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**Time for the battle of wills! Woot! Who will come up on top this time, Naomi, or daddy?  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter 42<p>

"We don't have time for this Naomi," Her dad stated, "get in the car, or we're going to miss our flight."

"_Rune want's to embed small rocks in your dad's car's tires."_ Emily stated mentally to her. "_I'll just tell him to wait on that one, shall I?"_

She reached back and gave Rune's hand a squeeze, "Why do you think I'm here dad?"

"You're uncle's deluded you into thinking your a mutant," He said sharply, "Naomi, you're just a sick kid, you're not a mutant, now get in the car and we'll get out of here and you'll never have to see any of these people again."

Naomi could see her mom sitting in the front seat of the car, she smiled and waved from within at her daughter. She looked the same as when she'd left, a few more gray hairs in the straight dark brown pile down her shoulders. Her dad still looked exactly the same, dark eyes, dark hair and scowling. He climbed out of the car and slammed the door. She managed to suppress the slight flinch. "Naomi, do you want to make this into a fight? You know how this ends."

"Not this time." Naomi stated. She could sense others watching from windows all over the building. She swallowed, performance pressure much? She thought to herself. "I know you don't want to hear it, but what you said I'm not, is exactly what I am. I'm a mutant."

He shook his head, "They've brain washed you Naomi, you're not a mutant. They're freaks all of them."

The ground trembled slightly. She glanced over her shoulder at Rune, his jaw was clenched and his hands in fists at his sides.

"Then I'm a freak." Naomi stated, "and proud of it." She took a breath and raised a hand in his direction. His shadow peeled up off the ground and came to stand directly before him. "I'm a mutant, or can you do that?"

"Someone else is doing that Naomi, they're just making you think you can do this thing." He waved a hand at his standing shadow, it crossed its arms and shook its head at her father. It slapped him across the face once, shocked he stumbled back a step. The shadow dropped.

"I'm the one who's been training, I'm the one who has been going to bed exhausted some nights while I try and grasp something new about my powers. No one can do what I can do." She stated loudly. "You can't do anything to me anymore!"

He walked up the stairs, "You are my daughter, you are coming with us if you want to or not!" He grabbed for her arm.

She braced herself, closed her eyes and exhaled.

His hand went through her arm, he stumbled forward a step and nearly collided with Naomi. Moments later her image dissolved completely into shadows and fell into the ground.

"Four seconds," Naomi said appearing on the driveway behind her father, every inch of visible skin was shimmering, ebony black, "Damn, I was hoping it would hold for a little longer than that."

He spun to face her. "What... how...?" He walked several steps toward Naomi, she vanished before he set foot on the final step, she came back up behind Rune. "Cut this out Naomi!"

She laughed, "Did you know, the word 'shadow' has several different meanings." She leaned on Rune, he was surprised at the heat coming off her skin he reduced the gravity pressing on her hoping to make anything easier for her. "There's the black things that follow you everywhere, shadow also means to follow, but it also means to imitate. Someone said to me recently that the appearance that is on the outside of me is just a defense, a shield against the world. So that made me wonder, was it just imitating what everyone else looked like and making something to look like some combination of what I look like, and what the world wants me to look like? So I figured, maybe I can separate the two." She sighed and stood up straight, "It only lasts four seconds though, its rather unfortunate."

Her head hurt. She didn't know how much longer she could even stay on her feet, even with Rune trying to help. The door opened, Curse, Rael and Hart came out. "You know, you shouldn't of said anything about us being freaks, this is a school full of them, and I've made lots of friends."

His jaw was set, he walked up toward her again. "I hope you enjoyed making a sick girl think she's a freak, you'll be hearing from my lawyers I'll have restraining orders against every single one of you."

"Actually, Brett," Beast came walking out followed by Storm who's attention immediately went to Naomi, she looked about to collapse, the longer she stood the less shimmering her skin was doing. "You'll be hearing from her lawyer first."

"What the hell are you talking about, her lawyer?" Brett demanded.

Naomi took to sitting on the steps. Rune picked her up. "Good job," he said softly. "you delayed him just enough."

She smiled, "Oh good, can I go downstairs now, I think I over did it by a lot."

Beast was speaking all kinds of legal jargon while handing her father a court signed document, a custody hearing. Until the date Naomi would be remaining at the school, then she'd be in state custody until the judge made a decision. She smiled and closed her eyes as she was carried back into the school.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah! You've all been so patience with my lack of updates, and you're lucky that I knew how this one was going to go so you get a second update! Yay for legal jargon!<strong>


	43. Chapter 43

** I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 43<p>

There was three weeks until the hearing. The first while of which Naomi spent in the lower floors; most of the time unconscious with a high fever. She was given detention for the pure reason of threatening her own life. It was raining off and on during that week, Sparky spent as much time out in the lightning storms with her trainer to harness this outside force. Storm occasionally had pulled up lightning storms for her to practice with, but it was less conspicuous to just use the storms nature supplied. Beast was either downstairs with Naomi or off making sure they had everything they'd need for the hearing. Naomi had been put in the same room as Emily, Storm had put her there in case she needed anything Emily would be able to get someone's attention, fast.

The day that Ian and Paul came to see Naomi -under Beast's request- about her powers was the day Rune came down to inform her about the postponement of all detention until Wolverine got back. He and Bobbie had taken off some time earlier that day.

As the twins left the room Naomi asked, "What do those two have in common that they'd both leave?" She was sitting cross-legged on the bed in a long white shirt and a pair of spandex shorts. She was dying to leave the lower floors, but Storm was denying her that freedom until her body temperature returned to normal.

"It probably has something to do with Rogue." Rune said, he jumped up and sat on the bed with her. "So, what did the twins say about your powers?"

She shrugged, "That I am not meant to do what I did. I shouldn't be able to create a double of myself, that's why it made me that sick."

"_Then how did you manage it?_" Emily asked, "_And why, cause you had an inkling that you shouldn't of been able to do it."_

Naomi smiled and looked at her hands, "Siren told me with her powers that I could, so I believed that I could." She leaned back on her hands, "But, I don't think I'll be doing that, ever again."

"Good." Rune leaned over and kissed her cheek. "No more recklessness from you for at least two months."

She grinned sheepishly, then changed the subject. "So, who's Rogue?"

"That's right, you never met her. She moved out a few months after that whole shebang with 'the mutant cure' that was going on." Rune stated. "I never actually met her either, but she dated Iceman, and Wolverine is kind of her guardian. He found her and brought her here."

"Cure? What cure? Did she take the cure?"

"Yeah, Rogue's power was to borrow other mutant's powers for a short time, through touch." Rune shook his head, "From what Logan and Bobby say about it, she really hated it cause she'd always hurt people she came in contact with. The cure was something a group of scientists came up with from another mutant's DNA, you've seen him running around school I hope. Jimmy, he also goes by Leech, you can't make your powers work around him."

Naomi nodded, she'd run into him once or twice. She'd tried to portal around him and it hadn't worked. "So, they used him to make a cure?"

Rune nodded, "As far as anyone could tell it worked, for a while. It's been fading off on most mutants, that could be what's happening with Rogue."

"And it could be a very sad thing for some mutants who never learned to control their powers." Storm said from the door, "Visiting hours are over Rune, get to bed."

Rune quickly leaned over and stole a kiss before heading up and out of the room. "That's what this school's here for though." Naomi stated, "To help mutants."

Storm smiled and held out a thermometer, Naomi sighed and put it in her mouth. "Not all mutants want to get help from us, and that makes them dangerous." She looked over at Emily, "We're here to help those who want help though, we'll never close our doors to a mutant in need." She looked back to Naomi, "That's what Professor Xavier set up this school for, and that's how it will always be."

The thermometer beeped, Aurora took it from Naomi, "Well, if you behave yourself you should be able to get out of here tomorrow."

Naomi rejoiced.

* * *

><p>The door slid open and Naomi was immediately awake. She lay motionless for a moment then sighed and rolled over when she recognized the shadow. "Cat, what are you doing down here?" She whispered softly.<p>

The child scampered into the room and tried to climb up onto the bed beside Naomi, "I haded a nightmare..." she whispered through sniffling back tears. "That mean person took you, and -and Curse, and Siren all away."

"You mean my father?"

The girl shook her head, "I don't know who he was, but he, he took you away." She almost buried herself in Naomi's arms. "I don't want to be left alone."

Naomi sighed, "Want me to tell you a story?" The shapeshifter looked up hopefully, Naomi sighed and wrapped a blanket around the two of them. She thought to the fairytales she'd been reading lately and began, "Once upon a time, there was a young princess named..." She looked up at the ceiling, then back to Cat, "Celeste."

The story continued to weave itself through the air on Naomi's voice, it took her a moment to notice Cat's eyes were locked firmly on the ceiling. Naomi paused and looked up.

A wide expanse of stars covered the entire surface above them, she gaped for a moment then continued on at Cat's prodding. As she spoke the stars began to move, wide eyed she watched as the glimmering lights above them almost told the story as well. Stars glimmered, twisted and shot across the skies as Naomi's voice continued. It took her a moment to recognize it was the skies of her in-between.

Slowly the little tale began to wined down and the stars settled into various places, Cat was partially asleep in her arms but the girl yawned and pointed to a collection of stars. "Look its the lion princess in your story..." she said drowsily before falling into a slumber. Naomi looked at the girl then back to the stars, she stared at them until they slowly vanished entirely.

"...How did I do that...?" she whispered into the dark room.


	44. Chapter 44

** I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**So I epically failed at Nanowrimo this year. School consumed me a little earlier than I expected, oh well, better concentrate of finals. Any whoo, I tried to compile a chapter for you.  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 44<p>

The air conditioning in the court room wasn't working, and the heater was evidently on the fritz making it almost a sauna. Naomi thankfully was in a light fabric short sleeve shirt and kapris. She felt sorry for Beast, he'd already taken off his jacket and loosened his tie once. The judge had walked in moments before and sat listening while her father's lawyer gave a shpeel about how it was wrong to take a sick child from her family and how evil mutants were to manipulate a sick girl into believing she was one of them.

The judge raised a hand cutting him off mid-stream, "Is she, or is she not a mutant?" He asked.

"No your honor."

"Yes your honor." Naomi spoke this at the same time as the lawyer.

His honor sighed, "Before this proceeds any further I want the proper tests taken on this girl as to decide if she is or is not a mutant." He turned to her father, "As your entire case rests on your belief that she is sick and not a mutant then I suggest you find other reasons as to why you should be permitted by this court to keep custody of her. And I have seen all of the evidence Mr. McCoy, you will be seeing more of this courtroom if I have anything to say about it." He banged his little mallet. "Adjourned, the plaintiff will remain at the school for the time being. Dr. McCoy, a court appointed guardian will be joining you to make sure she has proper treatment, as well as gets an examination by the proper medical personnel."

Everyone stood as the judge left. Naomi stayed where she was as her parents and their lawyer left the courtroom first. She looked to her uncle. "Ice cream?" She asked.

"Couldn't of said it better myself sweetheart." Beast said with a smile. Upon their exiting of the room a woman stood from a bench across the hall and walked up to the two of them. She was in a black dress suit with her almost orange looking hair pulled back in a tight bun at the base of her neck, not a hair seemed out of place.

"Naomi, I'm Mrs. Cari Hollins, I'm your court appointed guardian." Mrs. Hollins shook Naomi's hand firmly before she looked over her glasses at Hank, "Dr. McCoy, I've heard a good deal about you from political circuits. It's a pleasure to meet you." Another quick shake of hands passed between the adults. She turned back to Naomi, "Well, I suggest we head over to the hospital for those tests as soon as possible." Her voice was plain and a little sharp.

The shadow walker looked up at her fuzzy uncle then back to the very neat woman, "I guess so, Uncle Hank and I were going to get ice cream, but I guess that can wait till after. Would you like to join us for some?"

She smiled, "I try to avoid eating sugar."

Naomi had a feeling this was going to be a very difficult relationship.

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><p>They were sitting in a small hospital room, Naomi perched on that slightly higher bedchair while Mrs. Hollins was fingering through the pages of an older edition of _People _magazine and Beast was working on the days crossword puzzle in the newspaper when Naomi's phone buzzed.

_They let u free yet? _Rune texted.

She looked at the two adults before replying, _We're at the hospital. Judge demands medical proof I'm mutant._

_Oooo, needles. _Came the reply shortly after. Naomi rolled her eyes and put away the phone just before the doctor walked into the room.

"Sorry for the wait, we were having a hard time tracking down your medical record Miss McCoy. You haven't been to see a doctor for a while, your lucky your so healthy." He said while flipping though the papers.

Naomi didn't feel like explaining her situation to this stranger at the moment, "Yeah, lucky me." She replied.

"Alright, we'll just take some blood and start on those tests." The doctor looked Naomi over, "Just between you an me though, you don't look like a mutant."

Naomi couldn't resist. She let her normal appearance drop away revealing the black skin beneath, "So this is normal to you?" The doctor stumbled back a step, Beast gave her a look, she shrunk back a bit and apologized. "You have a better chance of getting blood without breaking a few needles when I don't have my defense up." She offered her arm.

The doctor stared at her for a moment, he took a blood drawing apparatus from one of the drawers and put it into her skin. As her blood was drawn the doctor continued to stare; Naomi was extremely uncomfortable under that constant gaze. Mrs. Hollins glanced over the top of the magazine for a moment then went back to reading.

One small vial of blood later they were leaving, Mrs. Hollins hung back slightly talking to the doctor, Naomi let her appearance return to her acceptable appearance. She sighed, "I don't know how you live with it Uncle Hank, how can you stand people staring at you all the time?"

He smiled down at her, "Because I came to terms with my appearance some time ago; everyone will stare at something that is different Naomi, you just have to decide that what they think doesn't hold as much weight as what you think of yourself."

"Sounds complicated."

Mrs. Hollins joined them, "They should have the tests complete in a few days. Now, you were talking about ice cream?"

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><p>Mrs. Hollins paid for the two double scoop cones and one triple scoop cup of ice cream. The three of them walked out and sat in the warm sunlight. "So, Naomi, tell me more about yourself. If I'm going to be keeping an eye on you, then I'd like to know some of your interests."<p>

Naomi took a lick of the chocolate ice cream, "Looking for anything in particular that you can report to the judge later?"

The court appointed guardian sighed, "No, I want to know about you." She licked at the rocky road ice cream on her cone.

"I ran away from home in December because I wasn't wanted in my own home." Naomi stated, "I went to my Uncle because he was a mutant and I'm one too. I can manipulate shadows, walk through shadows, and go to a rather strange dimension that is between shadows. He took me to the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters because he knew they could help me. And that's what they have been doing." They sat on a wooden bench and continued to eat their treats, Beast sat spooning out some combination of the three flavors he'd gotten. "My parents home schooled me for about three years before giving up, so now everyone, and the cat," she said with a smile thinking of Cathrine, "has been helping me catch up in all the schooling that I've missed."

Mrs. Hollins listened intently while Naomi continued to give parts of her life to her. When she'd finished their ice creams were gone. "Sounds like you've learned a lot about yourself in the last few months."

Naomi nodded, "And I don't want to go back to my parents: I belong at the school."

"Well then," she stood, "I'd like to see this school, perhaps get a tour." She looked to Hank, "If you'd be so kind."

"Of course."

The roar of a motorcycle came up the street then stopped in front of them. Rune pulled off his helmet, "Fancy meeting you here." He said with a grin, "A bunch of us are meeting up at the mall," He looked up at Beast, "Can Naomi come?"

Beast looked to Mrs. Hollins, "You'll have to ask her legal guardian."

Rune turned his attention to the woman. "Well?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Do you have a license to be driving that thing?"

"Yes."

Naomi sighed, "Mrs. Hollins this is Rune, he's my..."

"Boyfriend." Rune supplied and grinned, "I'll drive careful and everything."

Mrs. Hollins coincided.


	45. Chapter 45

** I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

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><p>Chapter 45<p>

They pulled into the mall parking lot and parked. Naomi pulled off the helmet and ran her fingers through her hair. It had grown out a little since she'd last cut it and the tips were stubbornly remaining white these days. Rune waited for her to climb off before getting off the black bullet-bike. "The others should be inside by now." He took her hand and walked into the building. "So how much blood they take?"

"Not much." She replied. "Doctor stared at me the whole time though, I had to drop my outward appearance."

"What did you expect, you're a beautiful girl." He said with a wicked grin over at her while Naomi blushed. "Come on, everyone's inside."

They found the others just inside the doors, Curse, Sparky,and Siren were trying to decide which store to go to first while Rael, Hart, and Circuit were more interested in getting at the food court. "See, right where I left them." Rune continued, "Still doing exactly what they were doing when I left."

Curse grinned and threw her arms around Naomi, "Perfect, you'll be the one to decide. Food or window shopping until we find somewhere to go into?"

Naomi laughed, "I'm always up for prowling the mall." The boys sighed and rolled their eyes, the girls started walking down the people filled traffic trap and looking at all the shops. The boys fell in behind them, Rune slipped up and took Naomi's hand while they walked, Siren split off at a photography shop claiming to need new equipment for her camera and said she'd meet them later.

They kept walking looking into windows and at kiosk contents. Curse dragged the remainder of the group into a lotion and other such good smelling stuff store. The boys hung back and watched while the girls darted around like hummingbirds from the shelves with the sample smells to each other or back to the boys to share the new scents they'd applied to their skin.

Naomi applied a body spray called 'Sweet Midnight' to her wrist and inhaled the aroma of a dark musty night, Rune walked up behind her and put her wrist to his nose and inhaled as well. She laughed and blushed as he took the bottle and applied more of it to her skin.

She walked out of the store while waiting for Curse to buy a lotion she'd found especially delicious smelling.

There was a sensation in the back of her mind akin to a breath of air brushing the back of her neck. Naomi's mental defenses immediately rose; the sensation continued to prod. She walked back in and grabbed Hart's arm, "Someone's here." She said softly.

"There's lots of people here Naomi." He replied with a laugh, then her aura caught his attention. His eyebrows dipped in, "Are you sure?"

She nodded, "Someone's trying to get into my head, no it isn't Emily." The others had joined them near the door. "There's a telepath of some kind in the mall." There was a tug in her mind and an idea floating around in it. Naomi waited for it to fade before letting the idea be completely formed. "I'll be back." She started to walk away.

Rune caught her hand, "You sure?"

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, "I'll call if I need you, promise." She walked away.

After a few steps Siren was at her side, "Hey, we're you off to?"

"There's a mutant at the food courts." She said simply, "Want to help me find out why they wanted my attention?"

Siren grinned, "Sounds fun."

The two of them got seats at a table near the middle of the food court's upper level, Siren purchased something for herself and sat again. Naomi noticed the others were at a table on the floor below, they were chatting away and eating at fries and milkshakes. Naomi turned to Siren, "What did you get at that camera shop?"

"A new tripod and a few different lenses for my camera, my old tripod disappeared for a few days then I discovered a new contraption of Circuit's with my tripod for legs." She took a drink from her soda, "Never leave things lying around in the school. Even if its got your name on it someone will find another use for it."

Another tug at her mind, she turned and looked around. Several tables away there were two young men sitting watching Siren and Naomi, one of them winked at her. She quickly turned back. Another idea floated in her head: go over and sit with them. She'd never seen them before and didn't know what they wanted but she planned to find out. "I'll send you a spider if there's trouble."

"And if there's not?" Siren asked taking another bite of her meal.

"I'll wave you over." Naomi walked over to the two boys and sat at their table. "Hi." She said with a smile.

"'ello beautiful." He had darker blond hair and a Brittish accent, brown eyes and dressed in a t-shirt with the union jack painted on it and jeans. "What can we do for you?"

Naomi forced herself to keep smiling, "You can stop trying to get into my head for first things."

That caught him off guard, he blinked, "Oi, what you mean by that?"

"She's rather blunt and to the point isn't she Midas?" The other one said. "No, I'd be the one gettin' in your 'ead." His accent was a bit thicker than his companions. He was wearing a black shirt and jeans, a white baseball cap hid most of his strawberry blond hair, his eyes were gray. "You're like us as well then? I told you we'd find mutants at the mall we look long enough."

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><p>They all would look up occasionally at the tables on the level above. Rune looked over at Hart, he shook his head. Naomi's aura was the same, no danger yet.<p>

They kept talking and eating until from the corner of their vision they saw Siren get up from her table and walk over. They were silent for a moment then heard an outbreak of laughter. None of them moved for a moment then they all went for the escalator.

The two girls and two boys where all sitting and discussing when they reached the table. Naomi laughed at the looks of surprised on their faces, "Everyone this is Nate or Prod, and Luke or Midas. They're from London, they're transfer students." She looked at them and laughed again, "They've been here two weeks and have been completely lost."

Hart chuckled to himself, "So you'd thought you'd look for the other students?"

"To right." Midas said, "Didn't mean any harm. Besides, we didn't expect her to be a one, just wanted to get the attention of the pretty lady." He winked at her, she quickly changed the subject to introductions.

They pulled up another table and everyone sat down and new conversations began.

"What do you do?" Sparky asked Midas in the mids of the talk. Midas grinned.

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><p><strong>PS. Don't go looking for the scent sweet midnight, I made it up... at least I think I did. I've never heard of it before.<strong>


	46. Chapter 46

** I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

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><p>Chapter 46<p>

Midas looked at all those seated at the table then pointed to Rune, "Mind if I borrow a pair of those studs?" He remarked and turned his hand palm up.

Rune raised an eyebrow but took a pair of stainless steel studs from his ears and put them in Midas' palm. He closed his hand then opened it again a moment later. Resting in his hand were a pair of gold studs.

The girls all leaned in closer to look at the earrings. "It's somethin' like the story of Midas, king wishes everythin' he touches turns to gold and it does." Midas explained offering the earrings back to Rune. "Just with a more interestin' twist."

Prod put his hands up behind his head and cut in, "Midas can change the molecular structure of things, long as they already have the parts necessary to be wha'ever it is he wants it to be." He yawned, "Try as I may he didn' want to go by somethin' more like Alchemist or the like."

"So not just gold." Siren clarified.

"Na," Midas said a bit humbly, "I've been known to turn the odd lump of coal into a diamond too."

That brought everyone leaning closer on the table, "Diamonds?" Circuit whispered hoarsely.

"Nothin' pretty, they're all flawed up and not worth much to anyone," The young man under their scrutinizing eyes said timidly. "Pa's in the jewelry business."

Naomi had taken the earring from Rune and was turning them around in her fingers. She was more interested in the story Midas had spoken of at the moment than the idea of diamonds. She handed them back to Rune, "Are there lots of fables and stuff about people who do things that most people don't consider normal?"

"Yeah, tons of fables, fairy tales, folk tales, myths, why?" Rune asked.

She shook her head, "Nothing really... but what if they're real?" He raised an eyebrow at her while putting the now gold earrings back into his ears, "I mean, what if they were true, what if they were about mutants? And its just been so long since they were real that they've become just stories."

Rune smiled and put an arm around her, "Would be nice if it were true, but I don't think it is. Mutations like ours... well they're just more advanced because of everything that's going on in the world."

Naomi nodded knowing what he meant, they'd been talking about it in a intro physics class taught by the twins. The nuclear era could of jumped up the evolutionary chain making mutations present themselves. But she smiled up at him and gave a quick kiss on the cheek, "So, now that we have that settled and everyone's eaten shall we resume our mall wandering or go back to the school?"

There was an even vote for both of options, Midas laughed, "Why don't the ones who want to stay, stay and the others go as they want?" This statement sent Prod, Midas, Circuit, Curse, and to everyone's surprise Sparky, on their way to the school. Rune, Naomi, Siren, Hart and Rael stayed to wander deeper into the mall.

"When's your birthday?" Rune asked while they were flipping through games at a used game shop.

Naomi smiled, mostly to herself, "Summer solstice."

"That's a moving holiday, you know that right?"

She nodded. "Mom only ever said it was the solstice when I was born. So I don't know a day." She looked up from the back of the game she was looking at, "It may shock you to know that I just think of a birthday as another day. I've never had a party or anything like that for my birthday."

Rune chuckled, "Another item for the list then."

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><p>It was getting late, but the street lights hadn't turned on yet when they parked in the garage at the school again. They were greeted by the sight of Mrs. Hollins sitting at the kitchen table sipping at tea while staring intently out the window.<p>

"Think she's mad?" Naomi asked walking toward the door to the house.

The boy shrugged as he parked the motorcycle. "I was never given a time you had to be back to the house, don't know why she'd be mad at you." He leaned over and kissed her softly. "You were gonna go dance or something, right?"

Naomi nodded, "Then going to see Emily." She smiled and kissed his cheek, "See you." She went off into the house.

Hollins' attention went to her when she walked in, "Quite the school you attend Naomi, quite the school." she finished her tea and put the dishes in the sink.

"I like it." she stated, she then walked out of the room and to her own room. She picked up her music player, and her ballet shoes before heading back down to one of the smaller gyms that was empty. She tied on the shoes, stretched then turned on the music and began to move across the floor smoothly. She let her skin fall to blackness as she danced, giving complete concentration to the feeling of the movements. She stumbled once and sighed then began the series of positions and steps again, "Rusty Naomi." She'd left the dance class a few weeks ago in exchange for a gymnastics with Cat, because she'd needed someone to go with her to the classes.

No one at the school had much experience in gymnastics and the only classes available were in the town, given as private classes, Cat had been taking the classes with another of the students, but he'd recently left the school, and Storm wouldn't let Cat go on her own so Naomi agreed to go with her. It definitely was different from dancing, and it stretched and used other muscles but Naomi was enjoying herself, and Cat was over joyed to have her be there with her.

After another stumble through more steps she sighed and went into a handstand, her hair frolicking into her face. She heard the door open and looked over to see Cat coming toward her, she smiled when she cartwheeled across the floor and landed next to her. "Wolverine's looking for you, said something about paying the piper."


	47. Chapter 47

** I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**School is evil, that's all I have to say, I needed a quick break from all the homework that has had me buried up to my eyebrows. Enjoy the chapter.  
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><p>Chapter 47<p>

Wolverine was waiting next to the front door with Sparky, Mara, Midas, two others that Naomi had only seen in passing in the school, and a girl that she didn't recognize were with him. She wore a short sleeve green shirt, but also had on green gloves that left only about an inch of visible skin between the end of the sleeve and the edge of the gloves. She was looking at the floor, white swatches of hair were falling around her face, the rest of her dark brown hair was pulled back into a half-ponytail. Her arms were crossed over her chest. This girl looked all together very introverted. Naomi's attention then fell to Midas, she raised an eyebrow at him, he shrugged in her direction.

"Alright, time to dish out the detentions." Logan began, "I bet you all thought you'd get away scot-free from it when I left. Well you were wrong." He looked from one face to the next. "You'll be splitting into groups of two, and yes I know that leaves one extra, Rune's late." He pulled out a piece of paper. "Ok your groups are Rogue and Sparky. Mara and," he looked at the name again, "Slick?" the boy with green hair and orange looking skin stepped over to Mara's side. "Rune and Frank," The other boy sighed and just crossed his arms at the lack of his partner. He looked all together rather unremarkable for a human, other than when his skin turned transparent, followed by the muscles then his skeleton. "That leaves Midas and Reckless." He crumpled up the paper and put it in his pocket. "You're gonna be cleaning up the school and the grounds, and not using your powers to do it."

They all groaned as Wolverine began dividing up the chores. Naomi and Midas were assigned to garbage duty. They had to walk the trails around the school and clean as they went. Naomi was just glad they didn't have window duty. "So," she began as they collected their tools for their job outside the door. "What did you do to get detention this fast?"

Midas sighed, "A water balloon turned to lead at a bad time, went through a window and left a waking dent in the wall."

Naomi laughed,"So you can't really control when things change?"

"Sometimes I can." he said slightly annoyed, "I'm not a complete plonker."

Rune appeared beside his partner in time to discover they were the ones to do the windows. Naomi waved at him, he smiled and nodded back. Midas' eyes followed her wave.

The two walked in silence for a moment after they had walked away from the school and down one of the paths, "So, how'd you and Prod find out about the school?"

Midas grabbed some crumpled papers from along the side of the path, "My mum got a bell a few months ago. Got told all about places meant to help kids like us, then bob's your uncle and Prod got dragged along behind."

"Bell?"

"A bell," Midas said, "on the telly."

"Oh, ok." Naomi replied catching on. She looked around in the woods then started off the path. "Come on, there's more stuff this way."

Midas blinked, "How can ya tell?"

She smiled and looked back at him still standing on the path, "I'm amazing that way."

Midas grinned, "Bril." He hopped out after her.

"What made them send you here?" She asked while she picked up trash while she walked. "Your parents just want you to be able to control your power?"

He nodded, "That and mum was sick of my turning her pots to somethin else." He looked up at her, "Can't do much cookin in a pot that can't take the heat and melts."

Naomi had to agree. The two of them continued talking while they walked through the trees, Naomi led the way while they continued to gather garbage. The two of them took a rest at a pile of rocks at the edge of a small clearing in the woods.

Midas closed his eyes and rested with his hands behind his head. "Decent place this, specially to take a nap." Naomi was perched up on the top of the rocks staring out up at the sky. He sat up after a second and started going through the garbage they'd picked up so far. She looked down at him curiously while he kept looking, he produced a piece of paper and began flattening it.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

He didn't reply as he then began folding the paper up. After a moment he closed his hands around it then offered the paper up to Naomi. It wasn't paper any more.

In his fingers was what had been a folded rose, he'd changed it into a clear stone rose. She took it from his hands and turned it around in her hands, "I thought you weren't as good at your power as you hoped." She offered it back, he was already laying down with his eyes closed again.

"Paper becomes ash and coal when it's burned, coal becomes a diamond." He stated simply, "its easier when it can be what I turn it into on its own."

"And the water balloon?" She put the rose on the stone beside her.

"Purely by accident." he replied, "unless the water has lead in it in these parts I can't understand why." he opened an eye, "A fancy gift for a fit girl." then he closed his eyes again.

"I have a boyfriend." She replied.

"Noticed," he said quickly, "Not really expectin anythin to come of it, but should ya fall out of interests with 'im I'll take up the slack."

Naomi smiled and looked back up to the sky. "I can always use more friends."

Midas opened his eyes looking up at her without her notice, the smile slipped from his face to a almost sad look for a moment then he got up. "Guess we should keep goin then." He got up and grabbed the bag, "How long the slave driver 'spect us to keep forragin for rubbish?"

Naomi hopped down, and shrugged. "I say we head back a different way and," she was interrupted by what sounded like a small explosion from the direction of the school. "Never mind." She grabbed his hand and pulled him through a shadow back to the school.


	48. Chapter 48

** I don't own X-men, but regardless the original characters that I'll be using in here do belong to me.**

**ImmortalAngel92: HAHAHAHAHA! Plot bunnies! I never thought of them like that, but on a more serious note; I'm sorry that your plot bunnies ran into my plot and began breeding uncontrollably. I wish you luck in trying to round them up again. Oh, and unexplained explosions make the world go round.  
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**julieAKAweirdo: Yeah, I'd have to say that he probably has just a little bit of a crush.**

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><p>Chapter 48<p>

"Bloody hell." Midas said when they came back up at the front door, he leaned on the wall for a moment.

"Sorry," Naomi replied quickly then left him there and went toward the kitchen. Rogue was coughing at the door and apologizing while Sparky was sitting on the counter, tears running down her face through a layer of smoke and Hart looking at the electrical burns on her fingertips. Circuit was working with the microwave as the trail of smoke coming out of it began to lessen. There were also other electrical devices beginning to spaz through out the house.

"Wow, you really did a number on this thing Sparks." Circuit said as he pulled off the door to it. "Probably flipped every fuse in the house."

Logan came in, "What part of no powers wasn't clear?" he asked looking at Sparky while she continued to sniffle.

"It isn't my fault." She said stubbornly, "We were cleaning and the dust made me sneeze."

Rogue backed up Sparky's explanation. "She was on the counter and was falling backwards, I tried to catch her."

Logan snorted and looked to the door at Naomi, "Sparks may have a good excuse, but you I know couldn't of gotten back that fast."

Naomi shrugged, "Curiosity and concern over ran reason. What's the disciplinary actions required for wanting to make sure everyone was alright?"

Wolverine glared, "Wires, go check the fuse box. Naomi, go see if anyone's stuck in the elevator or downstairs."

Circuit blinked, "You mean me?" Logan waved him off and started in search of a first aid kit for Sparky.

Naomi walked down the hall to the elevator and shadowed into the box. The lights were flickering, but there wasn't anyone in the immobile elevator. Once in the basement she went to each of the doors, would pause outside of them and sense for shadows. There were a few rooms were there were people in them, she'd go into the rooms and give everyone directions to go through her shadow, they all started going up into the first floor just outside the elevator door.

The girl came to a door she'd never seen anyone go in or out of. She knelt down in front of it and looked at the strange glass ball set into the center of the door. It was dark at the moment but it looked like it was a locking device. Naomi pressed an ear to the door, no sounds, as far as she could sense there were no lights on in the room. It was like this room no longer existed in the building.

"Zhat is Cerrebro." Naomi jumped to her feet and spun to face Nightcrawler, "I apologize for startling you Naomi. I was told by the ozher teachers about that room. It was used by Proffezzor Charles Xavier, wit it he could find ozher mutants in the world."

"Really? Why doesn't anyone else use it? I bet there are thousands of others who would like to know about this place."

"I'm afraid only Proffezzor Xavier was strong enough to use Cerrebro." Nightcrawler said, "Are there any ozhers stuck down here? Storm asked if I would help retrieve the stranded."

"I think I got most of them. I can do a quick second look though." Naomi said, her shadow split into several long strands and went into each room, one slipped through the cracks of the door behind her and traveled along the surfaces within Cerrebro. " They're's no one else." Her shadow returned to its normal shape at her feet.

"You are becoming a very powerful mutant Naomi," Nightcrawler said with a smile, "You will be a great asset to zhe school. Shall we return to the upper floors."

"I was curious, there was another room that I haven't been in down here, but there wasn't anyone in it."

"Curiosity leads to trouble." Nightcrawler stated. The lights stopped flickering and the sound of the elevator's motor returned, "You best get back up stairs Naomi." With that he disappeared in his implosion of black smoke.

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><p>Classes were becoming restless as the end of the school year was starting to grow closer. Naomi was staring out the window thinking more about the next pending court appearance and what her father would demand when the tests came back proclaiming her a mutant. Hart's elbow nudged hers, she quickly turned her attention back to the teacher and the book on her desk. "Yes?"<p>

A note levitated from the teacher's fingers to Naomi's book, "This arrived for you a moment ago." The professor said with a slight smile, the telepath teacher then returned to the lesson at hand, math.

She opened the note, it was from Storm. She was to go to her office as soon as class was out. Naomi quickly ran through the last few days of her life, she hadn't done anything too terrible that it would deem a visit to see Storm. Maybe it had to do with the hearing, or maybe her father had dropped out of existence entirely. A girl could dream.

Once homework was assigned she dropped her things through a shadow and into her room before heading to Storm's office. Beast, Storm and Mrs. Hollins were sitting in the room. "So the test came back positive?"

"Congratulations, your officially a mutant." Mrs. Hollins said, "You father wanted a paternity test too, and I'm sorry to say that he is your father. He's still trying for custody."

Naomi sighed and sat down, "Well I guess it wouldn't be worth anything to him if he gave up now." She sat up, "You could of just told me over the phone, why bring me into your office."

Beast cleared his throat, "With summer coming up and the end of the school year there's a decision that you have to make. Most of the kids will be going home for the summer and well, you have a few different options open to you."

The girl sat for a moment, then blinked in surprise, "I do?"


	49. Chapter 49

** So, I'm sorry it took so long for the last chapter. As a make up for it, here's another chapter. :p  
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**To UniCryin: Thanks! I rewrote it twice to make it what it was.  
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**To julieAKAweirdo: I'm sowwy! I was busy with work and with trying to write this novel I'm working on and the first go at that chapter didn't make me happy so I erased it an went again. But I'm glad you liked the chapter.  
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**To dontgotaclue88: We all are waiting for that blessed event.  
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**Thanks everyone for the reviews!  
><strong>

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><p>Chapter 49<p>

The blindfold was keeping out most of the light, Naomi took a deep breath and moved slowly. Her shadow began to twist and pulled up from the ground, she moved through the danger room and kept sensing out for the others who were in the room. Two of them were on her team, the other three were on the opposing team. They were all blindfolded. They'd been told who was in the training session and that their teammates would complement their own powers, Naomi remained motionless waiting to see who would go for who first. The goal was to gather the teams of three, then defeat the others before they could knock out your own team, the thing that would be interesting would be who was on which team, all without seeing or talking to the others.

Prism was on the playing field several feet away from her, Naomi thought he could be either on her side or on the other team. She sent out tendrils of shadows toward the others in the room to see who they were; A boy called Stith, it meant anvil, she'd seen him handling hot metal with his bare hands and shaping it, he was in one of her classes. Another was someone she'd only seen in passing, he went by Heatwave, every time she'd seen him though he'd been a different weight, all of their powers had been explained before they'd gone into the room, he apparently would store energy for a time then use it in bursts of heat energy. Feathers was in the room as well, she was standing motionless by the door. The last was Beth, she was a few years younger than all the others, she was a telepath, mostly based in telekinesis, she couldn't read minds, but she could move objects anywhere.

The shadows changed and Naomi jumped back avoiding a burst of heat from Heatwave, her shadow wrapped around her arms. So he'd decided to be one team. She sent out tendrils to Prism and bushed them across his arm, had any of them been able to see they would of seen his hair turn to a light brown as he smiled and bent light toward one of the others. Naomi's shadow swiped up the shadow and felt as Stith and Heatwave started to attack Beth together. The other girl pushed the hot attacks away from her as much as she could.

A black shadow hand shot up and swallowed a large hot air blast coming at Beth.

* * *

><p>Laughing they all came out of the danger room and headed to the elevator.<p>

"I didn't think you would do something like that Feathers," Prism said while untying the blindfold from around his neck, "Acting the decoy with a ball of hot air coming right behind you."

"Hot air rises, and it gives lift." Feathers said lightly, "But Naomi can't be fooled by that now could she?"

Naomi smiled, "Simple stuff really, but how can that kind of team set up be considered useful to us all, it looked really random to me."

"Probably was." Beth replied, she was small for her age, but was still older than Cat. "I think the teams could of gone anyway, so we made the choices in teams ourselves."

Heatwave pulled out a bag of chips and began snacking, "I guess, we all picked who we thought would be good for our strengths and weaknesses, then found other ways that the others could be useful."

"Do you think that's what they wanted us to figure out?" Prism asked, "That everyone's got something with the others that their compatible with?"

"Sounds like a good lesson." Storm said coming from the other door, "Good job teams. Go have some lunch you must all be tired."

They all dispersed to get their things, Naomi shadow-shifted up to her room. She got ready to get into a shower when her phone went off. "Hello?"

"This is Mrs. Hollins," came the voice of her temporary guardian on the phone. "I'll be coming by to pick you and your uncle up in a few hours, the judge has a few concerns he wants to go over about giving custody to Hank."

Naomi narrowed her eyes, "He has concerns? Like what?"

"We'll find out when we arrive." The line went dead.

Naomi sighed, "Great, now what?" She washed up and went down to eat, Rael, Rune and Prod were sitting at the kitchen table playing what she guessed was either slap-jack or war. "Busy day for you too?" they all grinned and gave various responses to her sarcasm.

Hart walked in and got into the fridge, he produced several bottles of soda and brought them over to the others then the game resumed. Hart looked over at Naomi, "I take it from your distressed energies you heard something about your hearing?"

Rune slapped the pile of cards and collected them, "Something go wrong?" he fixed the cards in his hands and kept looking over at Naomi while they started putting down cards again. "You dad didn't dig up dirt on Beast did he?"

She walked over and took one of the sodas on the table. "No, the judge has some concerns about Uncle Hank being my guardian."

"Like?" Prod asked while slapping down another pair of jacks before the others.

"Mrs. Hollins didn't say, just said concerns."

"Those are never a good thing," Rael replied, he was out of cards and was waiting to slap back into the game again. "Is there anyone else who you know of who could be," slapped down the cards, and collected them with a sly smile, "an alternate if Hank can't do it?"

"Storm volunteered at the beginning of this stuff, but it was shot down since she's got the school to take care of." Naomi took a drink of the soda and put it on the table. "I couldn't think of anyone else who'd want to be my legal guardian."

"I'll be your daddy." Rune said with a wink.

Naomi turned bright red, they all started laughing, Rael had a more thoughtful look on his face while they laughed at Naomi's expense. Naomi smacked him upside the head at the same time her shadow reached across the table and slapped down the double jacks before the boys could, "You're such a spaz."

"Yeah, but you're going out with me, so you must be crazy too." Rune took her hand and kissed it softly making her blush again, he turned over her hand and put the cards she'd slapped down into her hand.

* * *

><p>Sitting behind a large wooden desk the judge flipped through the paper work, "You have a very time consuming and difficult job do you not Mr. McCoy? Now, how do you plan on taking care of a child with all these demands on your time already?"<p>

"I am more than capable of juggling many different tasks in my life." Hank replied, his hands were in his lap and he was relaxing back in his chair.

The judge looked up from the papers, "But you have never had children of your own, and jumping into having custody of a teenager is difficult, I know, I have two teenagers, and I've had them since they were in diapers. How could you expect to take care of her, you also do a good deal of traveling and that isn't the best environment for a kid."

"Are you suggesting that she stay in the state custody?" Hank leaned forward, "I doubt the state would have just as much luck finding a place for her to stay."

Naomi sighed from where she was sitting outside the office, Mrs. Hollins was sitting next to her, she was busy on her phone and Naomi let the connection to Beast's shadow fall, as interested as she was in her future she really didn't feel like listening to more of the argument of foster homes. Maybe she should look into having Rune be her legal guardian. She shook her head, that would be really, really weird.

Hollins' phone rang at the same time Naomi received a text from Rael. _How would u feel about having a brother?_


	50. Chapter 50

**First things first, thanks to everyone who's been reading and telling me to keep updating, you're amazing and I love the feedback I get from some of you.**

**Secondly, CHAPTER 50! Oh yeah! That's right! And its gonna be an amazing chapter and you'll all love me for it!  
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**Thanks everyone for the reviews!  
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**To SkysFireLady15: Yes, couldn't you just see it, Rune taking care of Naomi for... hmm that's a little strange to think about.  
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* * *

><p>Chapter 50<p>

Rael was sitting several seats back in the courtroom, he was in a suit. Naomi couldn't think of a time she'd ever seen him, or any of the others who had showed up for the judge's final decision, dressed up in quite that fashion. Rune had even taken out his earrings and his hair looked like it had gotten to see a comb for the first time since she'd met him. She kept looking over her shoulder at them, but mostly at the woman sitting next to Rael.

Her hair wasn't nearly as blonde as Rael's and it fell in light waves down to just below her shoulders, her eyes were more hazel than green, but they were warm. She was wearing a sundress with massive purple flowers on it and a white sun hat with purple flowers as well. She had been looking at the doors where the judge would be coming in then she noticed Naomi's gaze, she smiled warmly and waved at her.

Naomi immediately turned around and wondered why she'd be willing to take in a kid who wasn't her own, or related to her in any way. She really wasn't listening to the arguments back and forth between lawyers and the judges but she could feel that most of the eyes were going from her to others in the room.

"Mrs. Tanners," The judge said, "Stand." Rael's mother stood and walked up between the two tables of the defense and the plaintiff. "You have filed a petition that you would be willing to take Miss Naomi McCoy into your family that is correct?"

"Yes your honor." Her voice was sweet and Naomi almost could describe it as ebony silk running over her ears. "My son attends school with Naomi and from what he's told me about her her mutant abilities are very similar to Rael's so it wouldn't be as difficult for my husband and I to cope with a second child with powers in our home."

The judge nodded to her, "And I see that Mr. McCoy," he motioned to Beast, "has asked for partial custody, meaning Naomi would remain with the Tanner's family, but he would continue to be allowed to visit and take his niece with him on occasions so long as the Tanner's give permission as well." He looked up from the papers to Rael's mother, "Is that acceptable for you?"

"Of course," She said, "But I do have one other request, but that I'll be taking care of at another time."

"Let's here the request." The judge said, "I've got other cases, but I'd like to get this one out of my courtroom as soon as possible."

"I would request a restraining order against Naomi's father, and possibly her mother as well if it's needed." Mrs. Tanner stated.

Naomi stood at the same time as her parents on the other side of the room, they all began talking at once, the judge called them back into order, "One at a time or I'll hold you in contempt of court." He pointed to Naomi, "You first."

She bit her lip then spoke, "I don't have anything against my mother other than she stood by and let what my dad do to me happen." She quickly then sat again, Beast reached over and gave her arm a little squeeze of understanding.

"This is absurd!" her father yelled, "This whole proceeding in bullshit, you're one of those mutant-lovers aren't you," He pointed an accusative finger at the judge, "This is all a scam leaning toward acceptance of those freaks!"

The ground tremored slightly sending her father back to his seat, Rune was glaring across the room, Naomi looked over her shoulder at him through narrowed eyes. "Sorry," Rune said loudly, "I don't like being called a freak."

"And you are?" The judge asked slightly surprised at the tremor.

"Rune your honor," he said standing, "I'm pretty sure there's a statement in there from me about Naomi when she first came to the school."

"Ah yes," The judge flipped through the pages, "It was a well written one I may add." He turned back to Naomi's father, "You're being taken into custody for contempt of court, as well as to face charges of domestic violence against a minor." The bailiff was putting him in handcuffs while the judge continued to speak and Naomi's mother watched in horror. " I judge in favor of the defendant, not because she is a mutant, but because from the evidence I believe that no one should be forced to go through the treatment that girl has lived through." There was a smattering of applause and cat-calls from the kids in the audience, the judge banged his gavel once then turned to Naomi. "Young lady you are released into the custody of Mrs. Riley Tanners, may the rest of your life be more pleasant than the one that you've had before now. Dismissed." With one loud bang of his gavel a cheer went up through the room.

Rune came up behind Naomi, wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek, "How does it feel to be free?"

Naomi grinned and cuddled back in his arms while everyone started moving toward the doors, "Refreshing."


	51. Chapter 51

**I'm thinking of saying this is the beginning of part 2... but I'm not sure. I really don't want to make a new story thing that keeps running about Naomi and all that happens, but I really want to keep going so...  
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**Well everyone here is Chapter 1 of part 2, also known as Chapter 51.  
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**Shout outs!**

**X-Nerd: That's my Rael, he cares for Naomi which is obvious, but nothing more than friends and now they're brother and sister. Yay! And its gonna be so much fun now that they're related!  
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**Dontgotaclue88: It is cause for celebration, no more worries about daddy's tricks. *dances as well*  
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**SkysFireLady15: Thanks! Glad you enjoyed my chapter!  
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><p>Chapter 51<p>

Naomi dropped a bag onto the new mattress, in her new room, at a new house. She immediately went and pulled back the curtains on the floor to ceiling Gothic style windows with seats in them and in the peaks of the windows were designs in colorful stained glass. There wasn't a balcony, but there was a massive backyard.

"How are you settling in?" The soft voice of her new guardian came from the door.

"You're house is amazing Mrs. Tanners, I didn't know Rael came from such a well off family." Naomi went back to her suitcase and opened it, "Are you sure this room is for me?"

The melodious sound of her laugh drifted around her, "Please call me Riley, I hope eventually you'll call me Mom or some other synonym." She came in and sat on the bed, "This was my room when I was a younger girl, when Rael's grandpa passed we were given this house as well as an amount of inheritance. You'll meet Mr. Tanners tonight at dinner, I'm glad that your uncle would let us steal you and your new brother away for the next few weeks."

The shadow walker smiled and put some of her things away, "I'm really, really grateful for all of this," She sat down next to her guardian, "But I still don't understand why."

Riley patted the younger girl's hand, "That would be because Mr. Tanner was orphaned when he was a few years younger than you. He, unlike you, was put into the system and didn't get out of it until he was eighteen. When Rael called us and told his father what was happening with you and how you would end up in a situation like his, where there wasn't much chance for you to get out of foster care my husband decided that we had more than enough room and income to be able to take care of another like Rael."

The girl managed to keep her mouth from dropping open while her new mother explained things to her, "So he's trying to save me from the same cycle as he was in?" the other nodded, "Its really kind of you both."

There was a single knock on the door then Rael walked in, "Come on mom, she's staying at the house, she isn't going to up and disappear in a few minutes." He grinned, "Come on sis, I'll give you the grand tour."

Naomi looked quickly at Rael's mom, she smiled and nodded. Naomi jumped up and went after Rael, "I donno, it may take some adjusting to having a sibling."

She could almost see him resisting the urge to roll his eyes, "I'm still me, your still you. Think of the new arrangement like the snowball fight, I'm your new permanent bodyguard. Speaking of which, if Rune does anything stupid, and I'm sure he will," Naomi made an indignant sound, "I now have the right to beat him to near death without any repercussions."

Shaking her head at the smile on his face Naomi just followed her now brother down to the first floor thinking he liked that idea a little too much. "Why did you tell your parents that our powers are similar, they aren't anything alike in my opinion."

He shrugged, "They're both black, and we can make weapons at will, seems pretty close to me. Sure you can walked through shadows and have a world all your own, who's to say that my powers won't evolve into that too?"

This made Naomi laugh, "I guess I'll have to explain all of my powers to them eventually, so where we starting this tour?"

There were seventeen and a half different rooms in the house; the kitchen, a dining room, a in house bar which Naomi was told was strictly for Mr. Tanners' business clients use while the soda bar in a large gaming room was for free use, three studies, four and a half bathrooms, the entry way, a living room which doubled as a library, and five bedrooms. Naomi felt like she'd walked into a fairy tale while Rael led her from room to room explaining each one and how often they were used.

"Your grandparents were loaded." Naomi commented when she was looking down one of the two bowling lanes in the gaming room.

Rael shrugged again, "He knew how to invest. When we found out I was a mutant mom laughed about it saying that gramps probably was too, he could always predict the fluxes in the investing market." Rael grinned, "I remember he confided in me once that he was sure he was too, numbers and money stuff was always easy for him, they almost did the problems by their selves."

Naomi sat on one of the couches in the living room, "Your family is amazing."

"You haven't even met dad yet."

A voice echoed in the entry way, "I'm home, there better be another girl in this house!"

"Speak of the devil." Rael stepped out into the hall, "In here dad." A man with dark black hair, and Rael's green eyes came into the room. "Dad this is Naomi, Naomi this is your new dad, Greg Tanners."

He stepped in and before she could do anything she was swept up into his arms in a long hug. She went stiff at first but slowly relaxed and returned the gesture that she'd never gotten from her own father, "Welcome to the family Naomi." He said softly, she didn't understand why but she felt a few tears escape and she held her new dad tighter.


	52. Chapter 52

**I guess I should say once again that I don't own X-men, but I do claim all my rights for my own characters! :)  
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**Shout outs!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 52<p>

"So, how has everything been at the new place?" Rune asked sitting on the porch at Naomi and Rael's house.

She shrugged and sat down next to him after putting down the two glasses of lemonade, "Its definantly not what I'm use to. They like to hug a lot."

Rune raised an eyebrow, "Really, I wouldn't of got that from the way Rael is at school." He took a long drink, and ran one hand through his hair, "Ah, pretty good stuff." He put his feet up on the table and pulled Naomi in a little closer to him, "Still, you're sorely missed at the school. When are you coming back?"

"I think we're coming back on Monday," Naomi replied, "I'll have to check with Rael and Mr. and Mrs. Ta... mom and dad, to be sure though. They wanted to take us to this amusement park."

"And it should be lots of fun." Mr. Tanners came up the porch steps, "Naomi, who's your friend?"

"Oh, um, dad this is Rune, he's from school he's my boyfriend." She said as Rune got to his feet and held out his hand.

Her father gave him a quick look over and raised an eyebrow, he took the offered hand, "Rael's told me about you a few time Rune, you're a troublemaker I understand."

"Only on occasion sir." He replied, "You were told that Naomi's nickname is Reckless, right? Your daughter's a troublemaker too."

"Yes, I've been informed," Mr. Tanners' eyes lingered on the multiple earrings for a moment, "So, what is it exactly that you can do?"

Rune put his hands in his pockets, "I can manipulate gravity and the pressure that's brought with it." He made himself levitate a few feet off the porch nearly hitting his head on the eaves. "So, I can do a lot of things really." He dropped himself down again.

"I see," there was a silence that had an unidentifiable strain lingering in the air, "Well, the Missus is cooking up something fun tonight, care to join us for dinner?" And the feeling vanished.

"No, actually I was just dropping by to bring Naomi her school work she's missed, and a few other things I thought she'd like to keep here." He pulled out what looked to be a glass rose from his pocket, he was scowling slightly at the prospect of giving it over to her, "Midas said this was yours."

Naomi sighed and took it from Rune's hand while shaking her head, "He's an odd one," she perked up, "I'm sure mom will love it." She spun on her heels and walked into the house to give the rose-shaped diamond to her new mother.

Rune moved to follow but Mr. Tanners put a hand on his shoulder and got him to sit down again, "So tell me, what are you intentions with my daughter?" Rune did his best to suppress a groan.

* * *

><p>On the drive back from the amusement park Naomi was staring out the window starting to fall asleep, she wondered if this was what a normal life was like. The seats between Rael and Naomi was packed with overly large stuffed animals, and the trunk contained more of them. Her new family was talking avidly about the adventure they had had. But the one that had stood out most to her was watching Mrs. Tanners tell off a group of people who had recognized her from one of the news stations that had covered a bit of her trial, they were trying to make her leave the park and her new mom had told them that if they had something against Naomi then they should take it up with God. She smiled again at the shocked looks that that had gotten her. Naomi leaned her head back and kept looking out the window.<p>

Rael prodded her in the side, she jumped and looked over at him, "You okay?" he asked, making sure it was under the voices of his parents, "I told you not to ride that last roller coaster with dad."

She couldn't help but laugh, "Just tired is all, I've never done so much in my life." She poked him in the side back, "Your one to talk, you look sick to your stomach."

"Too much cotton candy," Mrs. Tanners commented, turning to look at them "Its his overall weakness, don't let anyone else know it though." Mr. Tanners looked back in his rear-view mirror as they all kept laughing at Rael's expense.

The ground gave a tremor and Naomi's eyes went wide as rocks began to crawl down side of the mountain around them. A massive bolder rolled down in front of them and their dad slammed on the breaks just avoiding hitting it. Reiley yelled for her husband to put it in reverse and to move the car, from her window Naomi saw another large rock rolling toward them. Rael shouted for Naomi to put up her shadow.

The view from that side of the car turned black, Naomi had her hands pressed up against the car window, her heart was pounding in her chest. The parents in the car had gone suddenly silent. She looked over at them slowly to see their reaction, they looked from the shadow covering the car to Naomi several times, finally they seemed to remember how to breathe. "Good job sweetie." Mr. Tanners finally managed to say.

Rael climbed out of the car, and looked up the hillside. "We've got company."

Naomi dropped the shadow and looked up, she swallowed, of course it couldn't of just been a freak accident.

"Hello princess, did you miss me?" Pyro said from the top of the hill, beside him were Recharge and two others that she didn't recognize.


	53. Chapter 53

**I guess I should say once again that I don't own X-men, but I do claim all my rights for my own characters! :)  
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**Shout outs!**

**CSIGetteBlue: I don't kill off good people, don't worry!**

**Dontgotaclue88: Naomi gains some semblance of normalcy and look what happens eh?**

**julieakaweirdo : Would you really want her new dad to be any other way?  
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**X-Nerd : Thanks, Glad you liked the chapter. I thought it would be great if her new dad was everything her old one wasn't.  
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**Without anything else, away we go!  
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><p>Chapter 53<p>

Rune had said he was gone, Recharge had been taken somewhere by Storm and Beast, how was it possible they were standing there now? She could feel something in the back of her mind trying to draw toward Recharge, she hoped it wouldn't get any stronger. Naomi kept running these thoughts through her head while she watched them, then she remembered Blink. She looked back at her new parents in the car, then to Rael, "Guess we'll be late for dinner," she smiled in at the adults, "We may be home a little late." Before they could argue her shadow wrapped around the car and they were gone.

"Where'd you send them?" Rael asked coming up beside her, his phone going back into his pocket.

"They're in the garage at the house." She said a little short of breath. "That's a lot to move, who'd you call?"

"Reinforcements." Rael stated, his black energy coiled up around him forming armor, in his hands were two long swords. "I knew you and I would make a good team."

Another barrage of rocks started rolling down the hillside, Naomi's shadow changed into large hands catching them before they reached the two, "Don't go forgetting who's here."

Naomi sighed and looked up at her, her eyes turned white and her skin pulled back until her body was black, "Don't worry, we wouldn't forget you, Rachel." She moved her arms and the shadow arms copied, they through the rocks back up at the ones standing above. Before they hit the ground they slowed and just hung mid-air.

Recharge gave a grimace/grin at the two, "Didn't I introduce you to my new best friend? This is Rocky, he can control earth." She leaned on the arm of the larger young man standing next to her, his arms were up to keep the boulders from moving, "Rocky, be a good boy and smash the bad black magic twins."

Rael and Naomi both gave curious looks at the name but didn't get much time to think on it as the rocks began flying back at them. Naomi passed several of the larger boulders through her shadow letting them roll further down the ravine, but they were large masses trying to get through and soon she could only dodge and move them out of the way with the shadow hands. "Man," She said, "There is backup coming right?" She looked over at her brother who sliced a rock in half as it passed by him.

"They'll be here soon, keep it up." Rael stated. The two halves of the rocks came back from behind him, Naomi moved out of the way of another rock and used her hands to grab the two halves. "Much appreciated." Her brother said when he glanced back at them.

The next rocks started coming down, on fire. Pyro's flame machine had been repaired as far as she could tell. The two of them jumped out of the way landing behind other rocks, which began to move. "Great, no where's safe." Naomi muttered. She looked over at her brother using a black net to keep the rocks he hid behind from floating back up. She bit her lip, "They better get here soon." She looked up, Pyro was calling to the other person beside him. This man was massive, he looked to be encased in a suit of iron. And he started to move.

He vanished from sight for a moment then was coming back over the edge of the cliff, airborne. The road shattered under his impact, he picked himself up and brushed off his shoulders, then began slamming is fists into the rocks surrounding him, they likewise shattered. "Come out come out where ever you little pricks are." He called, "Juggernaut ain't gonna hurt you, much."

Naomi swallowed and shot out a shadow tendril, it grabbed his shadow and he sank into it to his knees, she hoped it would stall him until the others arrived. She licked her lips, all she had to do was stall and Rael was mostly pinned by the flaming balls of rock, she ducked as another one came in her direction. "Rael," she yelled over the curses coming from Juggernaut as he tried to figure out how to break out of the shadows hold, they were slowing him down, but he was starting to move forward at a crawl. "I've got an idea, but its a little..."

"Reckless?" Rael yelled back and laughed.

"I'm gonna steal your shadow, all of it." She said.

He was silent, "Last time you tried that," a ball of fire shot down and began to spread across the ground toward them both.

"I know, but that was my shadow, yours won't want to hurt me." she swallowed, holding back the I hope.

She exhaled and shadowed over to Rael. He glanced at her then nodded, she plunged her arms down into his shadow. For a moment there was nothing, then the glimmering of her skin began to be covered as a black ooze began to crawl up her arms. It was the portion of his shadow from her world. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath as it flowed over her entire body, covering clothes and all. She sat motionless.

"Naomi," Rael called over the crackling of fire and crash of rocks, Juggernaut broke free from the hold and charged through the rocks toward them. "Naomi!" No response, "Reckless!"

Her eyes peeled open, they, like the rest of her, were deep pools of black, she grinned and the shadow flow from her brother began to crackle. From her back shot wings, her hands were claws and her entire demeanor was more like an animal. She stood as the Juggernaut charged at them. She raised a hand, massive black chains, charged with energy like her brother's shot from the ground surrounding them and coiled like snakes around the massive man until there was none of him to be seen.

Naomi was working violently within herself to keep control of this state. There were quite a few massive holes out in the woods from her last attempt to try this.


	54. Chapter 54

**I guess I should say once again that I don't own X-men, but I do claim all my rights for my own characters! :)  
><strong>

**Shout outs!**

**Dontgotaclue88: Thank you so much! I was worried that people would think I'm making Naomi too powerful or something, but I'm glad you like it. But its got its set backs too, I think all uber-powers need an equal consequence to them don't you, or something that will make fighting after use of uber-powers more difficult.  
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**Sylvia Andrews: Thanks for the review, I'm glad you think my little story is great. Its such a lovely compliment, brings a tear to my eye; and I mean it in all seriousness. I was planning since the creation of Rael that he would somehow save her and would be her brother. (Your spelling is fine.) Flicker is sweet and I really should give him a nice girl sometime. To each their own.  
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**And now to the chapter, where backup arrives? Hopefully.  
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><p>Chapter 54<p>

Naomi called it an overshadow. She'd been in her world when it had happened before, she'd stumbled into the bubble that had was always in the place where she had arrived into her world from. It had wrapped itself around her like a cocoon and she only had flashes of what had happened afterwards. Rael had told her that she'd reappeared in a clearing that he'd been training in and had attacked her, not as if she was training with him, but like she was trying to harm, or even kill him. He'd decided it would be best not to tell anyone what had happened there, just that they had been training and that was the reason she'd been so exhausted the next few days after it.

It had called itself Shadow, and that it wanted to play. Naomi wondered if it was her actual shadow; it had, since she'd been working with her powers, begun to develop its own personality and would tell her when it didn't want to do something. But she couldn't think of a reason why her shadow would want to kill Rael. It was the reason she wasn't using her own shadow, Rael's shadow wouldn't want to hurt him, or her. Or she hoped anyone else, and it would let her go when she wanted it to. Thankfully she was still herself within his shadow. But it was an amazing feeling, especially the flying. She'd never done it, but the overshadow knew, and she'd seen Fallen and Archangel do it often.

Rael was below making his way up the hillside, using a large shield to hold back the fire attacks from Pyro. She was drawing the attention from Rocky, stones and boulders flew through the air toward her, she would dodge most of the clumsy throws while others she would catch in nets of the combined shadow and black energy, once she had a few she'd throw them back in their direction, Rocky would then have to stop throwing and work on catching.

"What the hell is she?" Recharge hissed under her breath, "Need a boost Pyro?" She called over to him then stood closer to Rocky as more boulders started on a downward decent toward them.

"Not on your life." Pyro replied and sent out flames both skyward and at Rael.

Naomi dove at them, the flames tracking after her. During her decent she saw vehicles coming up the road, they were coming. She shouldn't let them see her like this. She closed her eyes and landed behind them, Pyro wrapped the flames around her.

Rael gave a semblance of a battle cry and plowed into Pyro taking him to the ground. The flames faded with the flame manipulator's concentration, a cocoon of black peeled down around Naomi until she was all that was left there. Recharge lunged at her to get a hold on her, and below them Juggernaut gave several choice words as he was released.

She stepped away and pulled up shadow strands from the ground, they wrapped around Recharge's wrists and pulled them away from her, Rocky peeled the earth up from under her feet and she stumbled backwards.

Naomi waited for the impact, it came, but not against the road like she expected. Roots of a tree coiled and wrapped around her pulling her up into the air. "Can't go a day without trouble can you?" Ivy called.

"Hey, it was almost a week!" Rael called back.

Pyro shoved Rael away along with streams of flames, they licked up his arms he immediately backed away without his shirt sleeves and with fresh burns. Along with Ivy came Wolverine, Prism, Nightcrawler and Midas. Noami wondered at the combination but was grateful for the assistance. A moment later from the other side came Iceman and Flicker.

Cursing, Pyro yelled for Blink. A moment later the teleporter came, but not alone. Apparently they were expecting this, but weren't hoping for it.

Naomi was panting, exhaustion was starting to be a factor in this fight now. She knew that an overshadow would drain her of energy, she just hoped it wouldn't be this much. There was a hand at her waist suddenly, surprised she looked down, then her stomach was left behind as the person ran again. She was behind a car a moment later. Flicker crouching beside her, "Sorry about that, most people don't do well with running with me, but Wolverine said to get you out of there fast."

The shadowshifter blinked, that was the most he'd ever said to her in one sentence, she didn't get to stay surprised for long because her stomach caught up to her and heaved onto the ground next to her. She groaned and leaned against the side of the car, "What about Rael?" She finally said.

"He's trying to keep the big guy busy." Flicker replied, "I've got to go, suppose to be helping Midas. Prism's gonna stay with you." At that the speeder was gone.

Prism grinned at her, "So who was flying?"

She tried to look innocent, "I don't know what your-" there was a sharp pain across her cheek, she put up her fingers and came back with a small dribble of blood, like from a paper cut. Another came across her shoulder then it began all over her arms. She curled up to try and stop it, but she realized it was her own doing, Rael's overshadow had its own way of treating her for its use. Prism thought they were under attack and had put up a bubble of light around them. She had to close her eyes against the bright light. "Stop, stop I'm doing it to myself."

The light faded some but the car rocked at the impact of something on the other side, "I didn't take you for the masochistic type."

"I just did more that I should have," She waved it off when the paper-cut like stings finally stopped leaving her with thin cuts up her arms, a few on her face, and she could feel a half dozen up her calves. "It was my 'in case of emergency open this' kind of thing."

Prism didn't ask any further, "Think we can go back out there and help the others?" He asked looking over the hood of the car again. It was sounding like a war zone on the other side. Naomi felt sorry for whoever was going to have to clean up after this.

Naomi stood, "Hmm, stay here and miss all the fun?" She grinned, "Never."

"Alright, stay close and I'll keep us shielded from as much of the attacks as possible." Prism slid across the front of the car, Naomi followed close behind as the iridescent bubble of light that Prism used as a shield formed, it was amazing how little could get through focused light.


	55. Chapter 55

**Question for all my readers: How has my story been for you? Well, mostly the fighting parts, cause I've always questioned my writing of fighting scene skills. (hehe, a rhyme) So do tell if you think they're good and in what way, and if their not how do they suck? Choppy? Inconsistent? I aim to please and to improve but I need feedback to make it better! Thanks all!  
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**Shout outs!**

**Guest: I'm glad you've been enjoying my story so far, please feel free to keep stalking me.  
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* * *

><p>Chapter 55<p>

Things were getting out of hand, and fast. Pyro threw another long stream of fire in the direction of Bobbie, he responded with a flood of ice. All of this for some girl, he still didn't understand why they were hunting her so hard, sure her powers always were changing but he really didn't want to keep up this fight. They'd missed their chance, next time he was just going to have Blink grab her and get out of there. There was always the back up plan though, even though it would take longer it would have a greater chance of success.

Juggernaut was at odds with Rael and Wolverine, the two were dancing around the massive man while the two would deliver biting stings to him, Wolverine's claws leaving wide scars in the metal armor. The plant child had roots pulling down the earth Rocky was trying to throw around, and the others weren't fairing much better. He could see Naomi charging in under the cover of a strange light with another mutant, his hair changing from brown to white blonde as they moved. He cursed at their luck while working to keep Iceman at bay. He reached for his neck with his other hand and activated a comm. link hidden just below his collar. "We have to retreat."

"That puts a delay in our plans Pyro." A voice replied in his ear, there was a pause, "Very well, no need to continue. Return to the others."

Pyro let out a long loud whistle, Blink immediately began flashing between each of the others, collecting his companions until they had all vanished.

Sighing, Logan waited a moment longer before pulling back in his claws, "Hey, everyone alive up there?"

"We're still here Logan." Iceman yelled back, all of them came to the ledge above them. "Midas wants to try and fix the road, if that's alright with you."

Rael's black energy shot up the hillside and coiled around one of the roots Ivy had called out, he climbed up the hillside quickly, Naomi wasn't there. "Where is she?" he said between heaving breaths.

"Nightcrawler took her to the school." Prism replied, "She was hurt so he thought she should get back fast."

Massive rocks crumbled into sand around them, Midas sighed heavily as he moved from one boulder to the next. "Could use some help you know. Faster this gets done the faster we get to the school, get that?" He kicked a pile of sand back toward one of the holes in the road, "Gotta move the mass first."

* * *

><p>Naomi heard the cars rolling back into the drive. She sighed and turned on the water to her shower. The summer semester was starting so there were fewer students in the school, but Warren had patched her up his powers had started to advance to show some minor healing abilities. The cuts were all gone without a scar to show for it. She climbed into the streams of warm water and sighed as the heat immediately began working on her tight muscles Naomi scrubbed and washed the dirt and smell of smoke from her skin, she then let the shadow skin fall from her and let the water pour of her black skin for a short while. When the water started to feel cooler she exited.<p>

The girl dried herself off then wrapped her shadow around her body before walking into her room, it acted like a long dress around her dark body.

"Wow, that is a nice trick."

Naomi squeaked involuntarily and covered herself with her arms. Rael was at the door. "I'm gonna kill you people, stop picking the locks!"

"I'd get the lock replaced, I think Chameleon rigged it. So," he came in, closed the door and sat on her bed, "what was with the wings?"

She glared at him and pulled her shadow up and across the length of the room so he, or anyone else who entered the room wouldn't see her. "From what I'm coming to understand in those shadow bubbles it has the 'animal instinct' that exists in people. I'm guessing your animal is a bird of some kind..." she closed her eyes remembering the feeling and pulling on her shirt. "Maybe a raven, or a roc."

The shadow dropped when she was dressed. "So, what's on the agenda now? Did you call your, our parents?"

"Yes," Rael stated leaning back on the bed, "They'll be by in a few hours to do their sweep over our persons to make sure we're alive. Your uncle wants to talk to you too, he's down in the basement."

She thought about it, "Well, I wanted to see Emily too, so I'll go see him after her." she opened the door and let him out first before heading downstairs.

Prod bumped into her as she came around the corner, "Careful gorgeous, don' wan' to chance a nasty fall." He said with a grin, "Off to get your summer schedule then?"

"Has uncle Hank been handing those out?" she asked and Prod nodded, "Then probably." she could feel the tendrils of his mental powers feeling around at her defenses. "You keep that up and I'll think your up to something." she said while walking away, the sensation immediately vanished, she grinned and went to Emily's room.


	56. Chapter 56

**Sorry for the lack of updates this October. I took part in a haunted house, it was most amazing and so, so much fun! You deserve a chapter, or more. I'll try and put out more next month, but November is NANOWRIMO and I'll have other things that I'm writing. But I'm good and writing when motivated. Give me much motivation my good readers!  
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**Shout outs!**

**Dontgotaclue88: I miss Naomi when I'm not writing her too. She's always on my mind wanting for her story to continue. I've got lots of what's gonna happen later in the story but I really have to get there first. Thanks for the review!  
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**CSIGetteblue: More added.  
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* * *

><p>Chapter 56<p>

_I don't like him. _Emily stated, _Prod's been down here everyday since he's arrived. Storm keeps saying that he thinks that he can help me, but it just feels... _There was a pause that Naomi could of assumed where the girl would of shuddered. _Slimy when he tries to get into my mind._

Naomi listened intently to her friend relate everything that had been happening in the few weeks she'd been gone. Most of the student population had started getting ready to leave for summer break but a good number of them would be staying here and continuing classes along with a few extra things that the teachers would assign. "You're just paranoid, Emily. He's a decent person."

_Slimy._ Was all Emily replied. The doors to the room opened and Hank walked in.

"I asked for you to come see me first." he scolded, "I'll let it pass this once, but for now we need to go. Nice to see you doing well Emily."

_There's no change, how can I be doing well if I still can't pee like normal people?_ The telepath confided in Naomi, making her laugh.

The two of them left and headed into one of the classrooms. "You have quite a few options this summer Naomi, you can go stay at home with your family, you could stay here and continue learning, or you could run away and join the circus." The last he said with a glimmer of humor in his eye making Naomi smile. "Just in case you would like to stay we've got a schedule set up for you." He fished it out of his pocket.

"You practice that little speech in the mirror don't you." Naomi replied while taking the notecard. Hank chuckled. She looked over the schedule and blinked repeatedly, "None of this is school. Training, group training, oh this looks like school; mechanics, more training. What's with this driving and flight class?" She handed him the card back, "I can't fly."

Hank smiled ironically.

* * *

><p>"You get to learn how to fly the jet." Rune said for the seventh time since she'd found him. "I can't believe this, only Storm ever flies the jet."<p>

Naomi shrugged, "I guess Uncle Hank wants me to learn cause he built the thing. He wouldn't show me the jet, only a model of it."

"Man, I'd give my left arm to fly the jet." Hart stated dreamily. "But first," he snapped back from his daydream, "you need to drive a car."

She was looking at the schedule again. "I'm still not sure if I'm gonna stay this summer though."

"Why? Rael's planning to stay if you do, he's dying to keep training you." This made Naomi roll her eyes, "Hey, he may be your brother but he's also one of your trainers, and he's not allowed to play rough with you outside the school." Rune continued, "I'd beat the living kidneys out of him."

She laughed and leaned over onto him shoulder, Rune then wrapped an arm around her, "I'll think about it."

"Besides." He kissed her hair softly, "I'd miss you if you didn't stay."

Hart rolled his eyes and stood, "Too much love aura in the air here, I'll see you both later." He made his way into the house.

Rune watched his progress until the door closed. "If that was all it took I would of laid on the charm earlier." Naomi laughed while Rune pulled her closer and wrapped both arms around her, "Are you sure you won't stay?"

"Well," She looked up at him, "It would break Cat's little heart if I didn't give her the chance to throw me that party she's been trying to keep quiet." She grinned when Rune gave a look of shock. "I have ears everywhere, and Cat's not very observant when she's telling people about it."

He sighed, "You better act surprised when you come in."

"Of course, I've never had a party before." She had had butterflies skipping in her stomach since she'd heard the little shapeshifter talking to Ivy and Siren about this party. "But it's not my birthday, at least not yet anyways."

Rune smiled, "I think its more to make up for all the birthdays that you didn't get to celebrate, that was what Cat said anyways. Your uncle's trying to pin down the exact date back tracking all the summer solstices. He said they mostly fall in June though." He gave her a soft kiss. "You stay here, I'll go see how everyone's doing on the decorations." He left her sitting on the back stairs.

Naomi smiled and leaned back on the stairs and just stared at the light reflecting off the water. She kept watching until she noticed the shadows were reacting to her attention. Standing and tilting her head to the side she walked toward them. The shadows were raising off the bottom of the pool forming into almost a fountain the water kept falling out of. Each piece was like a dish holding the water and letting it drizzle back down into the pool. But the part that was disturbing was she hadn't been trying to make anything.

She quickly forced them to disperse.

"Aww come on, it was looking a mite fancy if you ask me." She spun to find Prod leaning on the glass frame. "Did ya know, your mental defenses fall when you're around that young gravity buff?" He smirked and went back in the house.

Naomi shivered, and quickly turned away, maybe there was some truth in what Emily said. There was something a little disturbing about that telepath. She looked down and realized she was standing on the edge of the pool, she quickly spun and went back to the steps, she doubled up her mental protection hoping that he was gone from her mind. She stayed there looking at the ground until Rune came and brought her in.


	57. Chapter 57

**Sorry for the lack of updates these last few months, haunted house in october, and nanowrimo in november. Which to my pleasure I completed! So I thought I'd send a treat to my good readers.  
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**Shout outs!**

**Dontgottaclue88: I just had to do it. Storm and Hank won't be around forever right? Someone in the next generation of X has to know how to fly that thing.  
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**salexl: Thank you for the complements! Rael is sort of one of my favorites too, but I try to love all of them equally.  
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**Unnamed Guest: Well if I told you something was up with Prod then that would ruin the plot, but I will say we will be seeing quite a bit of him and Midas in the rest of the story!  
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**ShadowAddict: Awww thanks so much for reading over and over again. I can't be the best on this site, I've read plenty that are great too, but thanks for the compliment**

* * *

><p>Chapter 57<p>

When Rune got her into the kitchen he tied a blindfold around her eyes. She restrained herself from getting a look at everything through shadows and let him lead her. She did her best to keep a smile on, albeit it likely looked a little forced and Rune would likely be the first one to notice something was wrong. But there wasn't anything that he could do to change what Prod had done or said so she decided to keep it to herself.

She dismissed all thoughts of Prod at the sound of Cat yelling orders for everyone to go to the big dance room and to hide cause Naomi was coming. She kept herself from laughing and Rune chuckled and continued down the hall. "She doesn't know about subtlety does she?" He said quietly. Maybe he hadn't noticed anything.

The doors opened and the blindfold was removed.

"Surprise!" Everyone yelled, coming out from behind the piano, a pair of long tables and a large number of chairs, Naomi was surprised at the number of people who were present. It looked like most of the students she'd met were there, to her dismay that meant Chameleon, and Prod. The two of them were chatting by a large punch bowl, Prod glanced up at her and smirked. Naomi made sure her defenses were up. Cat came plowing into her legs.

"Where you surprised?" She asked, her arms wrapped her arms around just above Naomi's knees, she was looking up with just joy and expectation in her eyes that Naomi smiled back and dropped to the girls level.

"Yes, I was." She petted the child's hair and swept her up into a hug, "Did you do all of this?" She asked motioning to the decorations of white, black, and bright green streamers hanging over the ceiling, the glimmering crystals that were reflecting rainbows across the walls, and a large number of flowers spread around the room. The table laden with food and a very large two tiered cake.

"No, I couldn't do it all, but Storm, and Rael, and Prism, and Midas, and the fuzzy blue man helped me with it all. Oh, and Ivy, she brought the flowers in." Cat said proudly, she squirmed out of her arms and pulled her toward the table, "I wasn't sure what you'd like, but Rune said you liked strawberries in chocolate so we made some!" The girl picked two of the biggest strawberries on the plate and handed one to Naomi. "Happy Birthday!" Cat held out her strawberry like a glass waiting to be toasted.

Smiling softly Naomi tapped her strawberry against the little shapeshifter's, "You are very smart Cat, thank you for this wonderful party." She took a bite of the fruit and turned to ask Rune a question, only to find that he was gone. She looked around and found him talking with Hart, off by themselves. Naomi's pant leg was tugged on and Cat began to lead her down the rest of the table telling her about all of the contents, "Its a chocolate cake with a creamy frosting, Storm and I made it this morning. We're gonna put candles on it later for you, but I think that its going to taste delicious, cause anything with chocolate is good."

"Happy late birthdays." Midas said while approaching, he held out a box for her. Naomi smiled and went to take it, but Cathrine snatched it first and held it tight.

"Her presents aren't till later," She said stubbornly, "I'll go put this with the other ones." And the child skipped away happily at the success of her party so far.

Midas sighed stuffing his hands in his pockets, "Remind me never to go against traditions when that lil' one is in charge." He shrugged, "Ah well, not like it was anything real special." He looked her over, "You alright, you look a bit out of sorts."

"It's nothing," she replied quickly, Naomi had seen Prod looking in her direction again, she quickly turned away, "Is it common for Prod to just invade people's minds without asking?"

"Ah," Midas looked at the ground and rubbed at the back of his head, "Its a nasty habit o' his. Prod likes to see how long it takes for people t' notice he's in their brains. I've tried to get him to stop but he's a stubborn one that is." He was looking toward Prod now, "I'll see if I can get 'im to lay off ya and ev'ryone else too. I've noticed him playin' with others too."

"Nightmare thinks he's slimy."

Midas laughed, "Yeah I guess he is sometimes, always wants his way. Well," He held out a hand and Naomi took it, to her surprise he lifted it up and kissed the back of her hand. "I'll be off then, get Prod out of here for you so you can enjoy you party. Happy Birthday, Naomi." Then he was gone.

And Rune was there, "What was that about?" He asked seriously.

"He was just wishing me a happy birthday is all." She replied and smiled, "I hear you are the beneficiary of the strawberries."

Rune grinned and flushed slightly, "Well, yeah..." Music came floating through the crowded room, Naomi leaned over to see who it was, Flicker was sitting with his fingers dancing over the keys, he noticed her gaze and stumbled over a few notes before continuing, of course he did this when ever he noticed a girl watching him. Flicker was doing his best to keep his eyes on the music and the keys. "Come on, dance with me."

Naomi laughed, "Last time we tried to dance it didn't turn out too well."

"There's no Pyro to interrupt this time." He led her into the middle of the floor, most everyone had cleared the central area, the ones who hadn't were slowly rocking back and forth in each others arms. Circuit and Curse were two of them out on the floor, her head was resting on Circuit's chest and was smiling contently. Naomi smirked slightly at this sight then turned back to Rune and wrapped her arms around his neck while his arms went around her waist. "Don't go disappearing on me alright?"

Naomi laughed and leaned her head back as they started moving like the others in the room, she let her shadow skin drop leaving her ebony appearance, it glimmered and danced with its own light, she was blissfully happy. But she kept checking her mental defenses just in case. She eventually was in the same position as Curse, with her head on Rune's chest, she could hear his heart beating. The song was over all too soon.

Cat announced it was time to sing and cut the cake, "Cause Storm said we have to get to bed soon." Everyone laughed, then Naomi made her way up to the cake, now alight with what she could guess was several dozen candles, apparently Cat didn't think sixteen were enough. They sang, she blew them out in three breaths, they ate cake.

Once there wasn't a slice left of the chocolate dessert they began to disperse, some helping to clean up, others off to bed. Summer break started in two days, some were leaving tomorrow. Naomi helped to take leftovers to the kitchen. On one trip she heard talking by the stairs and had to pause when she though she heard her name.

"...can't do this."

"We can't back out now." Prod's voice sent chills down her spine. "One way or another it'll get done, I'll do it alone if I must." Then the sound of footsteps retreating and it was gone.

She went quickly to the kitchen, Hart was standing eating strawberries but paused. "Rune was right, what's wrong?"

Naomi sighed, "Its nothing, I just get the feeling that there's something wrong with Prod."

"He does give off an energy that he's hiding something," Hart replied, taking a eclair off the plate in her hand before she could put them in the fridge. "But as he's a telepath I can't do much about making him feel any different. He knows when I'm at something. But I'll keep an eye on him if that will make you feel better."

She nodded, "Thanks, I'm exhausted." Naomi could just hear her bed calling, she left Hart to his raiding of the desserts and found comfort and warmth between the covers of her bed.


	58. Chapter 58

**Sorry for the lack of updates. The excuse this time... hmmm... can't think of one prior to this month. I have been writing on my novel alot more, but I had this one almost finished at the beginning of this month then I went to LTUE. For those of you who aren't sure what that is it is Life, The Universe, and Everything. No, not the books, but a convention that's held locally every year so I went this year. It was great, classes all about writing and art, can't wait to put them into practice! Hopefully you'll reap the benefits of my learnings.  
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**Shout outs!**

**Dontgottaclue88: Oh you will find out, and then you will like him even less! Yay for plotlines.  
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* * *

><p>Chapter 58<p>

Summer was growing hotter with everyday. The last of the birthday cake had finally disappeared out of the fridge nearly a week after the party, but Naomi still had a stash of chocolate strawberries in her room. She and Cat would have one when ever the little girl came back to visit; Cat was spending most of the summer with her parents. Rael and Naomi would go see their parents on weekends, one of which was scheduled for her to go get her driver's license. While she was nervous about it she would spend a few hours in the danger room practicing on a simulation that Beast set up for the kids when they were getting to that age of license getting.

But it wasn't the only simulation that she was driving. The jet was more complicated than the car, and she wasn't the only one learning to fly. Prism was also a lucky contestant to learn all there was to know about flying the X-Jet, as everyone had told her it was called. The danger room had lately been getting warmer, Circuit was looking into any issues with the air conditioning but as of yet he hadn't found any reason for the change in temperature.

Naomi took a long swig out of the water bottle that had begun to be as constant a companion as her shadow. She shifted uncomfortably in the seat of the simulated jet. The fabric was sticking to her skin, she wished she'd worn some longer shorts, but at the same time the heat was making it far too uncomfortable to consider wearing anything longer than mid-thigh or with sleeves. Along with the clothes she wore as of late she'd started to not don the shadow making her skin look natural. The fewer layers made her less hot, but if she went outside she made sure her true appearance was hidden. The back hatch of the jet opened and Prism came in. "Sorry I'm late, had to confiscate ice cream or I was going to die."

Laughing she motioned to the seat next to her. "I'm sure the fake jet feels very disappointed that you're late, pilot."

"God it keeps getting hotter in here, I don't know how you stand it to wait in here." Prism buckled himself in and began flicking the switches to activate the engines.

She rolled her eyes, and flicked up one of her shadows, it morphed into the semblance of an electrical fan giving a nice amount of air circulation, "Methods that don't do much good but move hot air around."

Prism nodded in agreement. "We ready for my test flight, co-pilot?" He grinned and winked.

Hank and Circuit had put their minds together to create simulations for all conditions in the air from smooth skies and slightly cloudy to El Ninos to meteor showers. Thankfully the two of them were only up to the tropical storms, and only on occasion. Naomi wasn't sure why they had such a wide variety of tests, but then again she'd heard rumors of Storm putting out tornadoes mid-flight to avoid missiles, and the shadow mutant wasn't sure if she liked the idea of missiles.

Prism's test flight was pretty average, he put the jet into stealth and took an aerial tour of New York, though he did nearly collide with several building when flying low. He landed in a large clearing in the middle of central park and they switched seat. Naomi's shadows immediately began to flick about turning all the switches and preparing for take off.

"I still don't think you doing that should be legal." Prism said with a little annoyance in his voice. "I don't think anyone could do that, unless they have like, a thousand hands."

Naomi smirked, her stomach was in knots, it always was when she started flying. "Did you think maybe that's why Beast and Storm wanted me to learn to fly?" She took hold of the steering and they lifted into the air.

* * *

><p>The two of them walked out of the danger room, Naomi's flight had been equally uneventful, except for avoiding in coming air traffic, with Prism's help they'd managed to keep from being seen and avoid a collision. As usual Hank met them outside the door with their scores for the day. It was in their best interest that the scores kept getting better, but they were scored on many different points of the flying, and at the rate they were going they'd be flying the real jet in maybe ten years. But Naomi was just glad they were improving the more practice.<p>

Prism's phone went off, he was meeting his dad and sister at the front door for an outing so he took off quickly, his hair quickly changing from a disappointed shade of blue at his grade to a platinum blonde that he usually wore when he went out.

Naomi drained the last of the water bottle and headed up to the kitchen to refill it. When she came in Midas was at the sink his back to her, "Hey, how's it going?"

Midas smiled over his shoulder at her, "Well enough, I haven't turned anymore lous to somethin they t'aint suppose to be."

She managed to keep herself from snorting at the memory of the flood of bubbles when the toilet turned to soap. She slid in and turned the water cold to fill up her water bottle. "Listen can I ask you a favor?"

"Anything for you luv." He replied.

She rolled her eyes, "Really, you have to stop calling me that."

He grinned, "If you insist, darlin." Midas finished cleaning the dishes in the sink and started putting them away. "What do ya need? It isn't somethin to do with Prod again is it?"

"Its for Rune actually. I don't know what to get him, according to Hart his birthday is next month and he informed me that usually the girlfriend gets her boyfriend something special."

Midas raised an eyebrow, "Then why are ya askin me? Why not ask someone who knows him better. I'm sure someone knows what he'd like most."

Naomi shuffled her feet, "I kind of know what I want to get him, but I need your help to make it."

"Oh." Midas replied understanding what she wanted from him. "Alright then, well, give me the gist of it and I'll see what I can do. But I'm not makin any promises that it won't blow up in mine or your good intentions."

She grinned, "Thanks."

"Well, anything to build up brownie points."

"What are those?"


	59. Chapter 59

**Shout outs!**

**Lavender-wash: Yeah, Emily is a pretty great character, and a wonderful name too. Thanks for reading, and being patient with my lack of updates.  
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**Dontgottaclue88: Shhhh, its a secret!**

**Raven-Thea: Thanks for the review, I know I didn't update soon :p I'm glad you can get through the chapters pretty fast, I know I could probably go back and improve all of them. But I'll probably save it for a time when I have it all finished.**

**Nyx811: Done.**

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><p>Chapter 59<p>

No matter how many people told her that it would be fine and she'd pass with flying colors it didn't help the nerves when she buckled into the driver's seat of the test car. She was also trying to keep her shadow under control. All of the training and all of Rael's attempts to make her overshadow again were making her own shadow start acting like it had a life of its own. If she could she would have left it at the manor for the day. But the boiling anxiety in her stomach also made her worry if something else was going to happen.

There was a knock on her door, she looked over at Cat who waved and opened the door. The little shapeshifter had wanted to come along for moral support.

"I wanted to wish you luck!" She said brightly.

Naomi smiled and rubbed Cat's head, "Thanks for that."

Cat held out a fist to her, "Here I made this for you! Ivy showed me how to make it."

A slightly crumpled paper flower dropped into her hand, Naomi laughed, her nerves started to relax, "You are a wonder Kitten-Cat. Thank you, now go back to Beast and wait with him til I get back alright?"

The child nodded and skipped back into the DMV, while a man came out and climbed into the passenger side. "Are you ready Miss..." He looked at the chart, "Naomi?"

She buckled herself in and adjusted mirrors before starting the car. They pulled out into traffic and started on the trip as the instructor stated and preform the necessary tasks he needed. The others were right, driving a car was nothing compared to the jet.

A motorcycle pulled up along side the car while they were at a stop light while heading back in the direction of the DMV. For a moment she thought it was Rune and made a small smile, then it fell away when the person flipped up the screen of his helmet. It was Pyro, a smirk was floating in his eyes knowing he'd caught her attention.

He pulled out a small notepad, flipped to the first page and dangled a written note in her direction, _Race you to your house. I'd love to meet your parents._

"Sir," she said flexing her hands on the wheel, "We've finished the test right?"

He raised an eyebrow at the question, "Yes, but you still need to get back to the DMV."

Naomi's shadow crawled out the back window and joined with the shadows under the car, "Would it effect my grade if I had to drop you here and go somewhere else?"

"Excuse-" He didn't get a chance to finish as he fell though his own shadow and landed on the sidewalk as the light turned green. Ashe took off after Pyro and pulled out her phone as she went.

"Don't even have the license yet and I'm already on the phone while driving..." She muttered to herself. She dialed the first number on her phone, it was Hart's.

"Test over already?"

"In a manner of speaking, Pyro showed up. He's going to my house," She glanced in the rear-view mirror the DMV instructor was on the phone on the corner, he didn't seem too terribly upset. "Do you think someone can go get my parents?"

Hart sighed, "He just has to ruin everything doesn't he?" There was background noise, "Don't worry about it Naomi, we'll take care of it."

She hung up but kept following Pyro.

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><p>It wasn't long before she realized Pyro wasn't going toward her house. But it was about that time that Blink popped into the backseat of the car. "Just keep going darlin'," he picked up her phone and put it in his pocket. "No worries, we're not kidnapping you, someone just wants to have a few words with you. After that you're free to go."<p>

Naomi rolled her eyes and looked back at him in the rear-view mirror, "I'm not stupid, nothing is that simple with you people, you've probably cost me my license you know that right?"

Blink shrugged, "Not my problem. Keep your eyes on the road."

Reluctantly she continued to follow Pyro down the road, he came to a stop at the gates of an abandoned amusement park. She pulled into one of the parking spots and waited. Pyro came over to the door and opened it for her, "Right this way, you're the guest of honor."

"I'm not in the mood for roller costers," She glared up at him, "But I could stand one if I can push you out of it."

"Quite the violent one aren't you." Blink said climbing out of the car, in his pocket her phone was going off. "Better hurry, he doesn't like to wait too long."

Pyro took her hand and pulled her from the car, "It'll be quick and painless, promise." She pulled her arm away from him.

"I won't promise you the same if you don't let me leave." She turned and walked into the park.

Blink walked on one side and Pyro on her other, they acted as though they'd been spending a good amount of time in this park. Naomi wondered if they were living in this place, she hoped it was cold at night. No, she shook her head, it didn't do any good to be angry at them for doing this. She'd just have to get even later.

"Who's this guy who wants to talk with me, what does he want?"

"You'll find out." Was the only response given, even to other questions she continued to ask as they took twists and turns through the amusement park. Eventually she just walked in silence.

She could see someone as they approached a carousel, a brown fedora on his head covered most of his white hair. He was in a trench coat and sitting at a table with a large, tattered umbrella overhead. The carousel was turning slowly while he sat staring at it. They continued their approach.

As if sensing their approach he turned to look at them and the carousel groaned to a stop, "So, we finally meet. I've heard many things about you, Naomi."

Naomi crossed her arms over her chest and refused to walk any closer. "So you do you think you are?"

He slowly stood, "My name is Eric Lenchner, you and I have some business."


	60. Chapter 60

**Congratulations Magneto has made it into the fic, rejoice! Sorry it took so long, I've had a hard time figuring out how to get to the next important parts. I'll work on thinking things through faster, or I'll do the flying-by-the-seat-of-my-pants-and-hope-it-all-wor ks-out method. Anyways, thanks for lurking, thanks for reading and thanks for reviewing!**

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><p>Chapter 60<p>

"Do you not know who I am then?" Eric asked leaning back in his seat, watching Naomi stand resolutely where she was.

She sighed, "I'm guessing your a mutant or a really crazy human."

He chuckled, "If any of them in that school would mention me they would know me as Magneto."

"Oh." That name she'd heard. "I thought you got a super dose of the cure."

Nodding he motioned again for her to take a seat, her belt buckle pulled her forward until she was standing in front of the chair. Reluctantly she took a seat. "But just as it wore off with your friend Rogue, the effects are beginning to wear off. Like any other unused muscle I have been working to regain the strength I once had." The metal teapot that was sitting on the table levitate and pour a cup for her. "What do they say about me?"

"That you were powerful and that because of you lots of people died. You tried to start a war."

"Many people tried to start a war my dear, I won't take all the credit for that." He sipped his tea and smiled. "I'm sure you're wondering why I had you escorted here."

"I'm sure it had something to do with taking over the world, you seem the type." She was slouching in the chair with her arms crossed, "What ever it is I don't want any part of it."

"Do you have any idea the extent of your powers, Naomi?" There was a glimmer in his eyes, apparently he had an idea of exactly what she could do, Naomi wasn't liking that look, "I've been told that you have quite the repertoire of abilities your powers have given you. And I'm sure there's more to come."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Do you honestly think that going to that school will help you to reach your full potential?" He asked, he put his tea down finally and leaned back in the chair, "They're not trying to teach you or any of you control, all they are doing is showing you to repress who you are and become like any other normal human."

Her shadow trembled under the table at his words while she held her hands in fists to keep it from jumping and slicing Magneto into smaller bits. "They saved me, don't you dare try and tell me what they're doing is wrong."

"Oh yes I saw it on the news," He smirked and glanced at the carousel it started again, this time in reverse, "You do come from quite the violent household, do you have that hot blooded temper like your father?"

The shadow coiled up behind him, beginning to split itself into sharp, jagged points the more he spoke. Naomi forced it away, it fled into darker parts of the park, "I'm nothing like him! I'm leaving."

Her belt buckle pressed into her, she gasped as it started to push harder and harder on her midsection. "I don't believe we've concluded our business."

She glared and pulled in her shadow, and all the others that it had come in contact with since coming to the park, "No, we're done." They wrapped around her first, taking her and leaving the belt behind. She reappeared standing beside the chair, "I don't want anything to do with you or any of your plans," her skin was its ebony shade, there wasn't a single glimmer to it, her hair and eyes were white. "Leave me alone, I don't want to hear from your or any of your lackeys again." Shadows coiled in around Eric from every direction each one a smooth sharp point aimed at his being. "Understand?"

Eric chuckled, "Lovely display, though I was hoping for something a little more." He glanced at the shadows around him, "Amazing how they become solid enough to withstand light."

Naomi realized he'd wanted her to get mad. He'd wanted to see if what he'd been told was true. She'd walked right into it. Slowly the shadows coiled back and went to where they had come from. Her own remained coiled, and agitated, around her feet. She was still glaring, "Are we done then, you saw what you wanted."

Smiling Eric gave a slight shrug, "Well that all depends, is what Pryo tells me true?"

She didn't want to know what else Pyro had told him, she left him sitting there.

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><p>Naomi slammed the car door and put her head against the steering wheel, Magneto was right. She was becoming more and more dangerous to be around. Her hands were still shaking from what she'd done. She quickly dropped them into her lap and held her hands in fists to try and stop the shaking. She'd almost let the shadows cut him apart. She'd wanted to pull an overshadow, she wanted to make him suffer, how dare he say any of those things about her.<p>

She watched Pyro walk out from the park, smile, wave, and climb onto his bike. He pulled over to her car and tapped her phone on the window. She sighed and opened the window, "You want this right?"

Naomi took it without a word and turned the car over, she drove away before he could. She drove through a shadow and out into the parking lot of the school. Her phone went off again. Rune.

"Where are you? No one's at your house, not even you parents, Rael called them, they're out of town. What's going on?"

Sighing she ran a hand through her hair, "I'm at the school. It was nothing, I'm fine. I lost track of Pyro, its all okay. I'll see you back here." She hung up, she didn't want to worry anyone. It was her problem, she'd tell Hank and Storm that Magneto was regaining his powers and he was after something... They'd want to know how she knew... Groaning she banged her head on the steering wheel. "What am I going to do?"


End file.
